


Moments in a Lifetime

by MissMorphine



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Gold & Silver & Crystal | Pokemon Gold Silver Crystal Versions
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-03
Updated: 2012-09-03
Packaged: 2017-11-13 11:42:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/503162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMorphine/pseuds/MissMorphine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In your lifetime, there are millions of little moments that make up the story of your life. This is the story of Morty and Falkner. 50 sentence set, six sets, Honorshipping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Une

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I’ve noticed something about myself. I have absolutely no attention span whatsoever. In fact there’s a reason weird squeaking at the moment that’s distracting me from this intro. One moment please. Even though you can’t hear it, the squeaking stopped and now I can resume typing. Anyways, like I was saying. I have no attention span. I keep trying to remember to write out an actual story, but I never do. :epic fail at life: Oddly enough, I can handle a 50 sentence challenge. Go figure huh? xD It’s probably because I don’t need to concentrate as long and don’t fail as much. I’m hoping these are all coherent due to the fact that I wrote a lot of these around midnight or later (since that’s usually when I’m finally finished with my homework).  
> Anyways, if the title or summary didn’t tip you off, it’s Honorshipping (Morty x Falkner) and like most authors I took a bit of creative liberty with their personalities based off how I see them, although we didn’t get much characterization in the video games. I like to put Falkner at about 16 and Morty around 19. I feel like my explanation for these two is going to be longer than the actual “story” (sentence stories…? Oh forget it. You get the point, right?) but here it goes. I consider Falkner having grown up to be raised as a priest but he went off onto the path of becoming a Gym Leader instead of dedicating himself to be a priest. As a result of his traditional upbringing…he knows about as much pop culture as a rock. Actually, the rock might know a little bit more than him. He comes off very severe to everyone because he always has his guard up. Morty’s much calmer than Falkner is. He’s not a stoner, I promise xD Morty’s pretty much always calm and just goes with the flow. He has powers (similar to his manga counterpart). He’s clairvoyant and an empath. Anything else with these two…well, I guess you’ll have to read the rest to get inside my head, though I warn you, my mind is a very scary place to be.  
> Disclaimer: Nope, I don’t own Pokémon. I don’t own Falkner and Morty either. Or anything else mentioned in this fic. I own the HeartGold version, but that’s about it. Nope, not the rights to it. Just the game. Yep, I’m broke; this is why I write fanfiction.

#1 ( _Comfort)_ : “Not a chance,” Morty murmured and pressed a soft kiss on the top of Falkner’s head after the younger male asked if Morty would rather be with someone else who was older and more experienced – someone who actually knew what slang terms were and lived in the current century; the blond’s arms encircled Falkner, his lips whispering soft and comforting words in his ear to ensure the boy that he was the one he wanted.

#2 ( _Kiss)_ : Falkner had never been kissed before so therefore he had no clue what it was like or what to expect when he and Morty kissed for the first time – a kiss he initiated by the way; the blue-haired boy was only sure of two things after he kissed the other: Morty’s lips were really soft and Falkner couldn’t wait until the next time he could kiss him.

#3 ( _Soft)_ : The feeling of a soft feather running across the back of neck caused Falkner to yelp and attempt to jump away from his boyfriend, who immediately wrapped his arms around Falkner’s waist to keep him from escaping; when Tsubasa came in later looking for Falkner to tell him there was a Gym challenge, he was shocked to find Falkner, flushed a dark red and panting heavily, with Morty’s hands pushing up his shirt and excused himself with a suggestive smirk on his lips before the Flying Leader could explain that Morty was just tickling him.

#4 ( _Pain)_ : “I should have seen it coming,” Morty murmured guiltily as he stroked gently at Falkner’s hair and kissed his forehead – unable to do much more – as the younger boy lay in pain as they waited out the effects of a Dark Pulse his Gengar had sent out that had gone astray; he knew Falkner would never blame him for it, but damn it, what good was clairvoyance if it couldn’t help him protect Falkner?

#5 ( _Potatoes)_ : “Do you ever eat anything with…flavor?” Morty asked when he found Falkner making potatoes for the second time that week; Falkner just blushed and mumbled a nonsense excuse, not wanting to admit his gym was given much less money because it was first in the League and he couldn’t afford anything expensive.

#6 ( _Rain)_ : Falkner and Morty had two very different opinions about the rain: Falkner hated the rain because it made impaired visibility during flight and often kept but on the ground but Morty loved the calm and peaceful atmosphere it created; although Falkner hated the rain, he had to admit it was a lot more tolerable when Morty was around to provide an umbrella to share and a kiss.

#7 ( _Chocolate)_ : “I’m not so deprived that I’ve never had chocolate be-” Falkner’s protests about living under a rock were cut off by Morty putting a piece of chocolate in his mouth and then leaning forward to kiss the younger boy; Falkner blushed darkly after the kiss broke and Morty licked the chocolate off his lips before touching a hand to Falkner’s lower lip softly and asking him if he’d ever had chocolate like that before.

#8 ( _Happiness)_ : If you asked Morty what his life was like before Falkner, he’d say he was content because that’s exactly what he was: content with the things he had, but neither particularly happy or sad; if you asked him what his life was like after he became involved with Falkner, he’d say he was happy.

#9 _(Telephone)_ : While Falkner had a Pokétech – and it was a miracle that he actually owned one – he barely knew how to use the telephone application and rarely used it anyway; however, once he started dating Morty and needed to find a way to communicate with the other that didn’t require flying over to the other city, his Pokétech use spiked up.

#10 _(Ears)_ : “What was that?!” Falkner yelped in surprise after Morty snuck up behind him and nipped at his ear playfully as a way of greeting, causing the younger boy to flush darkly and clap a hand to his ear; Morty simply grinned mischievously and nipped at his ear again, feeling the younger boy shudder as a shock went through him.

#11 ( _Name)_ : “Mortimer, really?” Falkner asked after Morty told him that his full name was Mortimer and Morty was actually his nickname – causing the older boy to groan, expecting the usual teasing about his name; instead Falkner just leaned up to kiss his cheek and murmured “Mortimer’s nice, but I think Morty fits you better.”

#12 _(Sensual)_ : To everyone around him, Falkner came off as stiff and stoic, but the first time Morty stumbled upon Falkner practicing a sword dance, he couldn’t take his eyes off the younger boy; there was a certain grace and fluidity to his movements that must have been the reason he was nicknamed the “Elegant Master of Flying Pokémon.”

#13 ( _Death)_ : Morty had no particular fear of death due to the fact that he was a Ghost-type trainer and was constantly surrounded by the world of spirits; although he wasn’t afraid of death in general, he was terrified of Falkner’s death and attempted to find ways to ensure the impetuous Flying Leader didn’t do anything too rash.

#14 ( _Sex)_ : One of the problems with Falkner’s naïve innocence was that he never realized when something he was doing could be taken in a much more…suggestive way; Morty groaned as he felt his pants get uncomfortably tight as he watched Falkner sucking on the popsicle he had bought for the younger boy, offering him a strained smile and wondering why he gave Falkner a popsicle of all things.

#15 _(Touch)_ : Falkner wasn’t exactly the physical type – he kept to himself and preferred to use words rather than gestures to communicate – but there was something about Morty that had him the exception to the rule; whenever Falkner saw his boyfriend, he had to keep himself from running over to him and throwing his arms around Morty for a hug.

#16: _(Weakness)_ : Because Falkner was a Flying trainer, it would have made sense for him to be afraid of electricity because of his Pokémon type’s weakness to it, but strangely enough the dark aura of approaching storm clouds never intimidated him; rather he was defiant toward it and was even willing to fly into the eye of a storm to see Morty, despite the protests of his boyfriend that he was sure to receive later for putting himself in danger.

#17 _(Tears_ ): “M-maybe we should break up…” Falkner choked out, raising tear-filled eyes to the Ghost Gym Leader; he’d been warned by one of Morty’s friends that he was “too young, too inexperienced, and too weak to be with someone as great as Morty” and that he’d never be good enough for the older male no matter how hard he tried.

#18 ( _Speed_ ): Morty wondered why Falkner sent always sent a Swellow whenever he was giving Morty a letter, but rarely used his Swellow to deliver other messages; when he asked Falkner the reason, the boy just smiled and told him that he only used a Swellow for priority messages because they were the fastest of the bird Pokémon.

#19 ( _Wind_ ): The way the wind changed was Falkner’s own precognitive ability, much like Morty’s clairvoyance; although he had no powers of his own, Falkner was always able to predict the weather patterns based off the way the winds blew, hence the reason he was never afraid of being caught in a storm – although Morty still secretly worried enough for the both of them – since he was able to feel the difference in the air.

#20 _(Freedom)_ : To Falkner, freedom was being in the sky and being as close to his birds as possible, but his view on life began to change after he met Morty; he always thought that there was nothing in the world that could make him happier than being in the sky, but then he felt what it was like to be held in Morty’s arms.

#21 ( _Life_ ): “You, my sweet but oblivious friend, have been deprived of life,” Morty said with a laugh as he grasped Falkner’s wrist and led him onto the sands of the beach on the outskirts of Olivine City; the younger boy placed his foot into the cold water of the ocean hesitantly before smiling at Morty, who decided Falkner was taking too long and grabbed the boy around the waist to toss him into the water.

#22 ( _Jealousy)_ : Morty knew that Whitney was the jealous type – despite the fact that they weren’t together and there was therefore nothing to be jealous over – but he never expected the girl to slap his boyfriend across the face when she discovered that they were dating; he had to commend Falkner though for taking the hit in stride and calmly asking the Normal Leader to leave the premises.

#23 ( _Hands_ ): Maybe he was just delusional from the blood loss, but Morty couldn’t help but notice that Falkner had really soft hands as he gently bandaged his wounds; his touches were tender and feather-light, almost caressing his skin as he wrapped the bandages around Morty’s arms.

#24 ( _Taste)_ : Morty had to fight to keep himself from laughing when he walked into Falkner’s kitchen to find his boyfriend covered in cake batter and holding the electric mixer away from him as though it was about to attack at any moment; Falkner smiled and offered him a weak “happy birthday” before the older boy grabbed onto his wrist with a predatory look in his eyes – causing Falkner to blush brightly underneath the batter – and dragged him off someplace more…private.

#25 ( _Devotion_ ): “Of course I came to find you Falkner; you left so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to explain,” Morty replied gently after Falkner asked why he was there; the Flying Leader had left so angrily that he didn’t notice the approaching storm and got caught in the tempest – not unlike his own volatile emotions at the time – causing Morty to leave the safety of his own gym to chase after him to tell Falkner that he loved him.

#26 ( _Forever_ ): “If forever is such a long time, then how long are you expecting us to stay together, a few weeks, a month or two, maybe a year?” Falkner snapped after Morty told him that forever was a long time before he turned on his heel and grabbed his glider, staying just long to tell Morty that he’d come find him later before taking off and heading back toward Violet City; while Morty was a realist and only gave him an honest answer, telling that to Falkner meant to the younger boy that he didn’t want to be committed.

#27 ( _Blood)_ : Falkner’s fingers were shaking and slick with blood as he wrapped the bandages around an unconscious Morty’s stomach tightly; although the blond couldn’t hear him, Falkner quietly begged for Morty to wake up and tell him that he was okay and that he was worrying over nothing.

#28 ( _Sickness)_ : Falkner hated being sick for a number of reasons, the main one being that he needed to stop working and let other people take care of him for once instead of it being the other way around; when Morty heard that Falkner’s gym had been closed because its leader was too sick to fight, he headed over to Violet City with chicken soup and the resolution that he would not leave until Falkner was feeling better, no matter how much the younger boy protested at “being babied.”

#29 ( _Melody_ ): The sound of swords cutting the air produced a strange yet calming melody to Falkner, a reminder of the constant sword dances he had been practicing since he was old enough to hold a sword; though Falkner rarely noticed it, Morty often snuck in to watch Falkner – who’d drop the sword in surprise whenever Morty made his presence known – because while performing the sword dances were calming to Falkner, watching them enchanted Morty and drew him into a bewitched trance.

#30 ( _Star_ ): Falkner knew the stars and the constellations extremely well because he used the stars as his guide of the sky at night to bring him where he needed to be; Morty stopped by once while Falkner was diligently updating his star maps and looked over his shoulder to see that he had marked the constellation Cygnus – a celestial bird that Morty often saw directly over Ecruteak – as home.

#31 ( _Home)_ : Whenever Morty visited Falkner’s gym during open hours, the Flying Leader was always strict with his trainers and made sure they were kept in line, but the first time he stayed at Falkner’s gym for dinner, he realized they were a family and the gym was their home; meeting Falkner’s trainers was like meeting his boyfriend’s family – actually no, it was like meeting his family; they were much closer to him than some distant relatives who only shared his blood – because there was no way to deny that they were a family.

#32 ( _Confusion)_ : One of Morty’s favorite things about Falkner was the confused way he would wrinkle his nose and furrow his brow when he was trying to figure out a slang term someone had just used; nine times out of ten Morty had to explain what it meant to the younger boy, but he couldn’t say he minded because the grateful smile Falkner would give him was just as cute as his confused expression.

#33 ( _Fear_ ): At first glance, Morty seemed perpetually calm and utterly fearless, but if you took the chance to look a little harder, you’d notice the way his eyes would flicker with worry whenever a storm was approaching and his hand would twitch at his side – about to grab his Pokétech to call his boyfriend to make sure he was still safe at home – or the way he’d clench his hands tightly when he watched Falkner get in a battle where he was way in over his head; if you ever asked him, Morty would tell you his only fear is for Falkner.

#34 ( _Lightning/Thunder)_ : Morty never had a reason to fear thunder and lightning – they were just part of a storm that would eventually pass – but after he became involved with Falkner, he grew worried whenever the skies would darken because Falkner was almost always flying somewhere in the sky like a lightning rod despite the potential dangers of flying through a storm.

#35 ( _Bonds_ ): Falkner was a firm believer in tradition – if anyone looked at how he dressed, they’d understand immediately – and one of the traditions he was taught was that the red string of fate bonded two people together; even though Morty was the one with the psychic powers, Falkner swore he could see a red string around his pinky that always seemed to lead him to Morty.

#36 ( _Market)_ : Falkner was surprised at how different the market looked when Morty took him to the festival– amazingly enough Falkner lived in Violet City and didn’t even know about the festival – in the town center; his amazement about the atmosphere of the festival came in second only to his amazement on how much of the festival food Morty could eat.

#37 ( _Technology)_ : If there was one thing Falkner couldn’t understand, it was technology; he tried to make coffee once when he stayed over at Morty’s gym in Ecruteak for the night and when Morty woke up, he found an extremely confused yet adorable teenager attempting to figure out what to do after plugging the coffeemaker in.

#38 ( _Gift)_ : Though Falkner never said anything about it – though it was pretty obvious with the way he ate plain rice or potatoes multiple times a week – Morty could tell the younger boy couldn’t afford to buy spices and seasonings, so he made sure to sneak a few spices into Falkner’s cabinets whenever he visited; if Falkner realized who was leaving the gifts for him, he never said anything – although the next time Morty visited after sneaking him the spices, Falkner was unusually hospitable and offered to cook something for his boyfriend.

#39 ( _Smile)_ : When Morty first met Falkner at the younger boy’s induction as a Gym Leader, he was expecting a very serious and stoic person – and he was not disappointed – but he was still an empath and could sense the nervousness emanating from the blue haired boy; Morty decided to take on the job of making sure Falkner was comfortable for the night – a very difficult feat as Falkner was not a fan of crowds and parties in general – and Morty’s work was not in vain because he was the first and only person able to make Falkner smile that night.

#40 ( _Innocence)_ : Despite the mischievous nature of some Ghosts, many of them were despairing souls and the weight of their grief would occasionally weigh down Morty’s soul; when he met Falkner, the purity and innocence that the younger boy exuded instantly attracted Morty to the blue haired boy who seemed to be as free as the birds he loved so much.

#41 ( _Completion)_ : Morty smiled as he felt Falkner’s hand slip through his, a warm feeling spreading throughout his chest as he felt the other’s peaceful aura; Morty hadn’t realized that he was missing something in his life until Falkner came into it and made him feel complete.

#42 _(Clouds)_ : “Fly through another cloud?” Morty asked with a chuckle when a slightly damp and un-amused Falkner arrived in Ecruteak City and recalled his equally wet Pidgeot back to its pokéball; Morty could only laugh as Falkner glared at him and refused to answer, shaking the wet hair out of his eyes and making it stick up.

#43 _(Sky)_ : Falkner and Morty were extremely different people, Falkner being of the sky with the birds and Morty belonging on the earth in the graveyards with the ghosts, but there was a point where the sky met the earth and where Falkner met Morty.

#44 ( _Heaven_ ): When Falkner stopped by the Pokémon school to teach a class, one of the younger students asked him if he was a priest and if he knew what heaven was like; Falkner merely smiled – not thinking of angels and pearly gates, but a quiet afternoon alone with Morty – and told the boy that heaven was being with the people you love.

#45 ( _Hell)_ : It was a common fact that Ghost Pokémon were considered to be the spawn of hell and their trainers were the masters of darkness and evil, but Falkner saw past the stereotype and fell for Morty, a good-natured man who completely defied the stereotype of Ghost trainers; the type of Pokémon you trained didn’t define you as a trainer and Falkner didn’t care what type Morty trained – even if it was his most hated type electricity, though he was pretty grateful it wasn’t – because he was in love with the older boy.

#46 ( _Sun_ ): “Go ‘way,” Morty groaned and batted an arm blindly at the source of the light as his boyfriend opened the curtains to let the sunlight in before Falkner grinned and walked over to Morty to take the pillow away from his face; Falkner didn’t think that anything could affect Morty until he found out that the older boy was not a morning person.

#47 ( _Moon_ ): Morty would admit that he wasn’t a morning person and that he was at his most lively when it was nighttime, especially if the moon was out; when Falkner stayed over at the gym he found out that Morty almost became a different, more serious person at night rather than the calm and dreamy person that people knew him as.

#48 ( _Waves_ ): Every person you came into contact with created a ripple in your life and the size of the ripple depended on how much they affected you; the first time Morty met the newest Gym Leader, he knew that this boy wouldn’t just create a ripple in his life: Falkner was going to create waves.

#49 ( _Hair)_ : Falkner loved Morty’s hair and definitely had a weakness for running his fingers through the blond strands; if you asked, he’d subtly avoid answering the question, but he may or may not have convinced his Pidgey to steal the headband that prevented Falkner from being able to run his fingers through Morty’s hair.

#50 ( _Supernova)_ : When Morty saw Ho-Oh leave the Bell Tower, he was reminded of a supernova, the bright plumage of the legendary resembling the colors of a star exploding and the horrible realization that like the star that had just died, Ho-Oh was not going to return; it was through Falkner’s convincing that he began trying again and hoped that one day someone with a pure heart would be able to bring back the beloved legendary to its home in Ecruteak City.


	2. Deux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I will tell you now that I absolutely hate this prompt list. Out of the six lists that are currently in my possession, this one is my least favorite. The prompts always turn out a lot darker than I'd like them too (maybe that's just my latent hatred for the list coming out). So expect a lot less happy prompts this time around, though there are some funny and fluffy moments here. There's also some ex-Sacredshipping, a hint Roark x Bugsy (which I submitted as Shuckleshipping, so we'll see if that becomes the official name or not), one-sided Resistanceshipping, and even a hint of Sidney x Whitney (which is now RiotShipping)

#1 ( _Walking)_ : Falkner's philosophy was why walk when you can fly – hence the reason he preferred flying to walking as a means of transportation – and Morty's philosophy was stop and smell the roses; Falkner would often take Morty out of his glider to experience the feeling of flight and Morty would take Falkner on walks through the park to show him the little things that could only be experienced on land – both of them giving each other a piece of their own world.

#2 ( _Waltz_ ): On the outside, Morty and Falkner's relationship seemed like a waltz with calculated and careful steps as they danced around each other, but if you looked a little closer, you'd realize it was more like a tango; instead of going in careful circles, there was an underlying sense of passion as they danced with each other.

#3 ( _Wishes_ ): According to the monks at Sprout Tower, wishes were impractical and a waste of time, but when Morty pointed out a shooting star and told Falkner to make a wish, the Flying specialist closed his eyes and squeezed Morty's hand softly, already knowing what his wish would be.

#4 ( _Wonder_ ): "What is it and what do you do with it?" Falkner asked curiously, eyed filled with childlike wonder as he and Morty walked by a cotton candy stand; noticing the look in his eyes, Morty went over to the vendor and bought the candy treat for Falkner, tearing some off the stick and offering the spun sugar to his boyfriend.

#5  _(Worry)_ : Morty always worried when storm clouds approached – albeit with some reason – but the panic only increased when Falkner didn't pick up the phone and the storm clouds were getting closer; once Morty felt that sinking feeling in his stomach that was more than just regular paranoia, the Ghost Leader headed out into the storm to find Falkner.

#6 ( _Whimsy_ ): Although most of the ghosts at Morty's gym played jokes on Falkner because they didn't like him, a few of them liked to play more lighthearted jokes on him because they were fond of the young boy; Morty couldn't help but secretly be amused by the war of jokes constantly surrounding his boyfriend whenever he visited Ecruteak.

#7 ( _Waste/Wasteland_ ): "It's so desolate and empty, almost like the sadness is piercing your soul…" Falkner commented when he visited the Burned Tower in Ecruteak, prompting a surprised look from Morty; Falkner's insights on the spiritual world often made Morty wonder if the younger boy had powers that he wasn't even aware of himself.

#8 ( _Whiskey and rum)_ : Morty considered his natural tolerance for alcohol to be a gift, but Falkner wasn't quite so lucky; during a Christmas party for the gym leaders, it was Sidney's bright idea to introduce alcohol to Falkner, who turned out to be a very affectionate drunk and spent most of his night clinging to an extremely amused Morty.

#9 ( _War_ ): With Eusine it was always a war, fighting with him because of Suicune, fighting with him over Ho-Oh's departure, constant fighting; with Falkner there was a calm peacefulness that Morty had never experienced with Eusine, a natural soothing effect that Morty could only try to emulate with his powers.

#10 ( _Weddings_ ): "One day, it'll be our turn," Morty leaned over to whisper in Falkner's ear as Whitney said her wedding vows up at the altar and he linked their pinkies together, causing Falkner's eyes to widen and his heart to begin pounding in his chest; the only reason he stayed silent was because Sidney was repeating the vows, but Falkner did curl his pinky around Morty's and gave him a sweet smile.

#11 ( _Birthday)_ : After Morty found out that Falkner had never celebrated his birthday before – the closest Falkner had ever come to celebrating anything while he lived in Sprout Tower were the traditional ritual holidays celebrated by the priests there – he set out to track down all of Falkner's friends and throw him a party for his next birthday; once Falkner got over the initial shock of being led into a room full of people – small enough that Falkner wouldn't be intimidated by the crowd, but large enough for a good party – he quietly snuck away to give his boyfriend a proper thank you.

#12 ( _Blessing_ ): Although Falkner was not a priest, his upbringing in the Sprout Tower influenced many of his actions, such as the fennel growing outside his gym for protection and the ofuda hanging on the main entrance to the gym; while Morty usually felt wary around the protective wards against spirits, he felt a sense of love coming from the omamori he found attached to his bag, inscribed with a prayer for a safe return, when he went travelling.

#13 ( _Bias_ ): Being a Flying-type specialist, Falkner was definitely biased against Electric-types; the only Electric-type Pokémon he could tolerate was Rotom, because it was also half Ghost and it reminded him of Morty.

#14 ( _Burning_ ): Falkner's limbs twitched of their own accord, his temperature skyrocketing as the poison burned through his body; Morty whispered comforting words that Falkner probably couldn't even hear let alone understand and brushed at his damp hair, praying that the poison would run its course and leave his body as quickly as possible.

#15 ( _Breathing_ ): Morty wrapped an arm around Falkner's waist, pulling the younger boy sharing the bed with him closer to him, and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, the only audible sound the soft and steady rhythm of Falkner's breathing; they weren't able to spend the night with each other often, but they always cherished it when they were able to.

#16 ( _Breaking_ ): The feeling of your heart breaking wasn't something that you could get over easily and when Eusine left Morty to devote himself to chasing Suicune, Morty wasn't sure if he'd be able put the pieces of his heart back together again, at least not on his own; in the end, it was Falkner who put the pieces of his heart – a little scarred, but stronger than ever – back together.

#17 ( _Belief)_ : "I believe in you," Falkner whispered in Morty's ear as they saw Eusine walking through the gates of Ecruteak City, "and I believe you can get through this because you're so much stronger than you think."

#18 ( _Balloon_ ): Morty knew from the moment he caught a Drifloon that it was going to be Falkner's favorite of his ghost Pokémon; he was not mistaken because when Falkner first saw the Pokémon, he immediately took a liking to it – although the fact that it was a flying type definitely pushed Falkner toward being in its favor.

#19 ( _Balcony)_ : Falkner smiled as he saw Morty out on the roof of the Ecruteak gym and flew over to the edge of the roof, staying on his Pidgeot and calling out, "I know it's not exactly a balcony, but I'd still like to confess my love to you anyway."

#20 ( _Bane_ ): "I swear Tsubasa you are the bane of my existence!" Falkner, blushing darkly, yelled down the hallway as his trainer ran away with a mischievous grin on his face; Morty raised an eyebrow in amusement and walked into the room Falkner was in, wondering what Tsubasa asked – though he had a strong feeling it was about their relationship – that got Falkner so flustered.

#21 ( _Quiet_ ): When most of the gym leaders met Falkner for the first time, they were greeted with a quiet boy who didn't want or even know how to socialize; Morty was one of the lucky few who were able to talk to Falkner and find out more than just his name.

#22 ( _Quirks)_ : Ghost Pokémon had particular quirks about who they tormented and how they did it: they scared Whitney until she cried – although that was not an extremely difficult feat – because she wasn't welcome around them; they intimated challengers in order to make them lose their concentration; and they teased Falkner because their master had fallen in love with him and devoted most of his free time to his boyfriend.

#23 ( _Question_ ): "What would you do if I told you that I love you?" Morty asked while running his hands through a sleepy Falkner's hair, causing the younger boy to shoot up and look up at the blond with now very awake and incredulous eyes.

#24 ( _Quarrel)_ : The first fight is always the worst, Falkner could attest to that; the first time Morty and Falkner fought as a couple, Falkner could barely hold himself back from completely losing any control he had over himself, but the frightening part was when Morty started yelling back.

#25 ( _Quitting_ ): "Do you honestly think I'd just let you walk away?" Falkner asked angrily, eyes flashing as he stalked after Morty, "because I'm not just going to let you walk away from this relationship, to quit without even trying because I'm not like Eusine, Morty, and I'm not going to let you keep comparing me to him because we're not the same; I'm not quitting just because things get tough and you're not allowed to walk away and leave things like this, not without a real reason!"

#26 ( _Jump_ ): "A lot of time and practice, but it's almost all trust, being able to jump out what seems dangerous because you know someone will always be there to catch you," Falkner replied with a cryptic smile after Morty asked how Falkner trained his Pidgeot to be there whenever the Flying specialist jumped out of a window; the meaningful look in Falkner's eyes shot shivers down Morty's spine and told him that the younger boy wasn't just talking about his Pidgeot.

#27 ( _Jester_ ): "So does that mean I've been playing the fool?" Falkner asked with a hint of acid in his tone as he caught Morty and Eusine up against the wall and turned on his heel to storm out; the pain was palpable in Falkner's voice as he left, unwilling to stay around and listen to whatever excuse Morty would have for him.

#28 ( _Jousting)_ : When Morty offered to be Falkner's sparring partner for sword fighting, he had no clue what he was getting into and was lucky that they were only practicing with wooden swords; Falkner smiled mischievously and twirled the wooden sword in his hand as he stood over Morty, who had been knocked off his feet within a few moves.

#29 ( _Jewel)_ : Morty was curious about the hair constantly covering one side of Falkner's face and wondered if the reason he covered his eye was because there was something wrong with it; one day when they were cuddling on the couch, he pushed the blue bangs away from the younger boy's face to find out that both of his eyes were completely normal, glittering like sapphires in the light.

#30 ( _Just_ ): "Just because," Morty said with a warm smile as he leaned over and placed a sweet kiss on Falkner's lips out of the blue; Falkner smiled for a few moments after the kiss before he immediately began blushing because the girl in the gym watching them was supposed to be his next gym challenger.

#31 ( _Smirk_ ): Seeing a smirk on Morty's face seemed out of place to Falkner, who was used to seeing the placid smile on his boyfriend's features instead; the foreign expression reminded Falkner too much of the stereotype of what a Ghost trainer was supposed to be.

#32 ( _Sorrow)_ : The place was dark and melancholy, filled with memories that Morty didn't want to remember of that day, of when Eusine left for good, the feeling of his heart breaking as Eusine told him that it was for the best…no he couldn't let himself think about it; the gentle touch of a comforting hand on his shoulder broke Morty out of his trance, a soft smile on the lips of the face that had given him hope again.

#33 ( _Stupidity_ ): "Am I stupid for wanting to forgive you?" Falkner asked quietly, his eyes lowered to avoid looking at Morty, "because as much as I want to be angry and tell you that I don't believe you…I do believe you, and I want to forgive you."

#34 ( _Serenade)_ : "I love you but…you're an awful singer Morty," Falkner said with a strained smile on his face after Morty finished singing for him; Morty just chuckled sheepishly and walked onto the porch with his boyfriend, agreeing that he wouldn't be performing any songs any time in the future.

#35 ( _Sarcasm)_ : "Oh I'm sure," Falkner said with a bite of sarcasm in his voice, arms crossed as Morty told him that what happened with Eusine wasn't what it looked like; Morty groaned in frustration and pulled Falkner toward him, begging him to at least hear his story out before making a decision.

#36 ( _Sordid)_ : Ghost trainers were considered the darkest and most sordid of trainers because of their involvement in the world of spirits, but if you met Morty, he was the farthest thing from the stereotype; Falkner would tell you that his boyfriend was one of the kindest and most mellow people he had ever had the luck to meet.

#37 ( _Soliloquy)_ : Falkner considered his life to be a soliloquy, sharing his thoughts with only himself, but after he met Morty, his soliloquy slowly turned into a duet; Falkner's thoughts were no longer something he kept to himself because he had someone he wanted to share them with.

#38 ( _Sojourn_ ): In the past, Morty used to love when Eusine would return to Ecruteak because it meant that they would be able to spend time together, but as time went on and the visits became few and far between, Morty began to dread the next time he'd see Eusine; in the beginning of his relationship with Falkner, there was a nagging voice in the back of his mind warning Morty that Falkner was going to do the same thing and leave, but the Ghost specialist was proven wrong – much to his delight – as Falkner began visiting more often as time went on.

#39 ( _Share_ ): Whenever Falkner stayed with night with Morty, he always ended up sharing a bed with Morty by the end of the night; if Falkner was left alone on the couch, Morty's ghost Pokémon would make jokes on the boy until he finally had enough and went to sleep with Morty in his bed where the ghosts wouldn't dare bother him.

#40 ( _Solitary)_ : To most people, Falkner came off as the type of person who preferred to be alone instead of being with a group of people but in actuality, he was somewhere in-between the two groups, preferring to be around a few people, Morty being the one he wanted to spend time with the most.

#41 ( _Nowhere_ ): "I'm pretty sure we're…in the middle of nowhere," Morty said with a laugh after Falkner asked where they were and from what Falkner could tell, the only visible sight for miles was grass, grass, and more grass; Morty grinned and threw an arm around Falkner's shoulders, saying "but that's okay because there's no one I'd rather be stuck in the middle of nowhere with."

#42 ( _Neutral_ ): "You know, I never liked Normal types; never mind the fact that my attacks are neutralized against them, I just don't like them," Morty commented one day when he and Falkner were visiting Goldenrod City and noticed Whitney wandering the town; Falkner couldn't help but smile a bit at the others words, pulling Morty closer as they continued to walk around the city.

#43 ( _Nuance_ ): Although Morty was the empath and was able to sense the subtle changes in one's aura, it was Falkner who was able to tell Morty's moods based off the subtle nuances of his behavior: if he was worried, he'd clench his hands and get quieter; if he was upset, his tone would get sharp and curt when he answered someone; if he was happy, his shoulders would relax and he'd subconsciously send out calming vibes toward those around him.

#44 ( _Near_ ): Dating another gym leader was always advised against because the two leaders would always be busy with their own gyms and didn't have a lot of free time for each other, but Morty and Falkner couldn't be bothered about that; they were lucky to live so close to each other, a mere few minutes away instead of living in completely different regions like Roark and Bugsy.

#45 ( _Natural_ ): One perk of dating Morty was that nothing was ever lost because he was a natural version of the Itemfinder; every time Falkner lost something – albeit it was rare because Falkner was organized to the point of being obsessive-compulsive – Morty was able to find it without even needing to know it was lost.

#46 ( _Horizon_ ): After a long day at the gym, Morty would often look out at the horizon as the sun set to help himself unwind after the stresses of the day and he watched the sky so often that he noticed a boy flying on a Pidgeot almost daily, though he never knew the identity of the boy and his bird; it wasn't until much later that one day when Morty was watching the sky that the boy came close enough for Morty to realize his identity of the Violet City Gym Leader and suddenly Morty had something to look forward to at the end of his day.

#47 ( _Valiant_ ): Falkner was both valiant and impetuous – shoot first, ask questions later – an often disastrous mix that got the stubborn boy in more trouble than it got him out of; if it wasn't for Morty's calm logic talking him down – or holding him back if it came to that – Falkner would have gotten himself in way over his head more often than both of them would have liked.

#48 ( _Virtuous_ ): "You haven't deflowered our virtuous little gym leader, have you?" Tsubasa mischievously asked Morty, who in turn laughed and declined answering; Falkner, however, began choking on the rice he was eating and warned Tsubasa that he was getting a week's worth of cleaning the gym – bird coops included – for the comment.

#49 ( _Victory_ ): When it came time for proficiency reviews for the gym leaders, Falkner clutched at Morty's hand anxiously as they reviewed his application to compare his amount of victories to his amount of defeats; after much deliberation, the Pokémon League members announced that Falkner would be able to keep his position and Falkner pulled Morty in for a tight hug, murmuring his relief at being allowed to stay.

#50 ( _Defeat_ ): Being defeated a lot didn't mean you got used to it – actually it made you a bit more resentful toward being defeated – and though Falkner never said anything, it was easy to tell that he was bitter about the fact that he was the weakest gym leader; if Morty could sense that Falkner was having a bad day, he'd try to head over to Violet City as soon as he closed his gym for the day to cheer his boyfriend up.

 


	3. Trois

#1 ( _Ring_ ): “I know it’s not formal and we can’t get married for a long time, but I wanted to give you this anyway,” Morty said with a soft smile gracing his features as he slid a ring onto Falkner’s finger; the ring itself was somewhat simple – nothing too extravagant, no diamonds that would attract unwanted attention to the Flying specialist – with a small sapphire stone set in a silver band.

#2 ( _Hero_ ): “Are you a superhero?” a young Falkner, eyes filled with admiration, asked a blond boy with a Gastly who had helped him find his way through Ecruteak City after he had gotten lost in the foreign town during a trip with the priests of Sprout Tower; Morty just laughed sheepishly, a hint of a blush on his cheeks at the little boy’s hero worship of him, and told him that he was just a Pokémon trainer.

#3 ( _Memory_ ): Falkner rarely talked about his experiences at the Sprout Tower – the memories weren’t entirely pleasant and it was a subject that Morty could never get details about no matter how much he tried – so it came as a surprise when Falkner randomly came to him one day and told him the entire story of living in Sprout Tower, starting with his family ties to the Kikyou religion and ending with his sixteenth birthday when he finally broke free from the life of priesthood to become a gym leader.

#4 ( _Box_ ): Falkner couldn’t help the smile forming on his features when he found Morty moving a box of his things into the living quarters of Falkner’s gym; they couldn’t live together until at least one of them retired, but they could suffice with just moving in a few little things here and there – it was the thought that counted after all.

#5 ( _Run_ ): Lugia, he just wanted to run away, run from the situation and retreat to the skies where he was safe – safe from what? His own thoughts? The truth? – but Morty’s hand grasping his arm prevented his escape; wild and frightened eyes stared into cool violet eyes until the fight in him gave out, a cracked whisper leaving his lips, “I don’t want to run anymore.”

#6 ( _Hurricane_ ): Falkner’s anger was like a hurricane, harsh words coming down in torrents and fury that could only be matched by the force of a tempest, but Morty’s anger was more like the calm before the storm; when Morty was angry, there was a sense of danger lurking beneath the seemingly calm surface that was honestly much more frightening than the furious gales of Falkner.

#7 ( _Wings_ ): Falkner spent enough time in the sky that he might as well have had wings; when Morty looked at him, he wasn’t surprised when he saw the outline of bird wings in the other’s aura – in fact, he would have been more surprised if he hadn’t seen them.

#8 ( _Cold_ ): Much like the birds he trained, Falkner hated cold weather and rarely left the warmth of his gym – and would probably stay in his bed all day too – but Morty loved the cold, especially the snow; during the first snowfall of the year, Morty dragged Falkner into the cold, white, snowy wonderland in an attempt to make Falkner appreciate the cold weather.

#9 ( _Red_ ): In Falkner’s nightmares, Morty always had the red eyes of a Gengar, haunting him and piercing through his soul, a twisted fear that could only have come about through the use of Dream Eater; Morty often wondered the reason why Falkner twitched in his sleep whenever he was sleeping over at Ecruteak Gym, never suspecting his jealous ghosts to be the cause of Falkner’s nighttime demons.

#10 ( _Drink_ ): Falkner should have realized there was something off about his drink after Sidney gave it to him by the way it burned on the way down, but he decided to ignore his instincts for once and shortly wound up completely wasted; Morty was torn between being amused by his boyfriend’s suddenly clingy behavior – which he was not opposed to in the least – or being annoyed with Sidney who spiking Falkner’s drinks to see what kind of drunk the younger boy, who was technically not allowed to legally drink yet, would be.

#11 ( _Midnight_ ): Morty was definitely more nocturnal than diurnal – his favorite time of day was midnight – which took some adjusting to since Falkner was always up at dawn while Morty was still sleeping; their habits didn’t take much adjusting to though since midnight and dawn were both their respective times for quiet reflection and neither one minded that the other was sleeping.

#12 ( _Temptation)_ : When Falkner turned sixteen, Morty swore something changed with him because he went from an awkward anti-social kid to an incredibly attractive and only slightly moody teenager; meetings for the Pokémon League suddenly became a lot more difficult to deal with because of the constant temptation to ignore whatever Lance was saying – because Morty really needed to listen to the same old speech at every meeting about “proper etiquette” – and steal Falkner away for something a bit more productive.

#13 ( _View_ ): While Morty watched Falkner from the roof of his gym every day while the boy flew on his Pidgeot, Falkner wasn’t always aimlessly flying and like Morty, he had his own spot to relax at Mount Mortar; Morty wasn’t surprised when Falkner asked him to go flying with him – it was a pretty common occurrence with them – but he was surprised, and extremely touched, when Falkner took him to the highest point of Mount Mortar, a place he went when he wanted to be alone and had never shown to anyone else.

#14 ( _Music_ ): Falkner wasn’t used to modern music – listening to the older monks chant to Lugia did not count as music – and he had never even heard of karaoke, so he had no clue what to expect when Morty took him out to a karaoke bar; a few minutes in, he had learned that people went up to sing onstage – for what looked to be the point of embarrassing themselves…? – and that a certain pink-haired friend of theirs, who shall remain nameless, signed Falkner and Morty up to sing “ _I Can’t Fight This Feeling._ ”

#15 ( _Silk_ ): “So…what type of material are the sheets made of on Morty’s bed?” Tsubasa asked with a sly smile while Falkner was sweeping, causing the gym leader to shove the broom into Tsubasa’s hands and command him to start sweeping; Tsubasa grinned wildly as Falkner – blushing in embarrassment – walked away, but not before mumbling lowly that they were silk.

#16 ( _Cover_ ): “Have fun?” Falkner asked while trying to hold back a laugh as Morty walked in, his face covered in Whitney’s lip gloss – although Falkner was pleased to note that her lip gloss wasn’t on Morty’s lips; Morty just scowled and attempted to wipe the lip gloss off his face, muttering that she needs to learn how to take a hint.

#17 ( _Promise_ ): “I won’t hurt you again, I promise,” Morty murmured against Falkner’s hair, his arms wrapped around the slighter boy tightly; so long as it was in his power, Morty swore that he wouldn’t let anything, especially his own actions, hurt Falkner like that again because he knew what it was like to have his heart broken and he refused to put Falkner through that again.

#18 ( _Dream_ ): Dreams were rarely pleasant for Falkner after he started dating Morty – the jealous ghosts often sending him nightmares in an effort to warn the Flying specialist away from the master – but he refused to leave; he gradually gained the respect of the Ghost Pokémon under Morty’s control by staying silent about the cause of his nightmares and bearing the pain of the horrors they sent without uttering a word to Morty to put an end to their torments, though the blue haired boy shot knowing glances at the ghosts whenever he could to let them know that he was onto their schemes and he could take whatever they gave him.

#19 ( _Candle_ ): “Because even if you can’t see it, the candle’s there burning in the window to show you that you’re welcome here, to light the way for you; as long as that candle is in the window, you’ll be welcome here,” Falkner answered with a small smile after Morty asked him why there was _always_ a candle burning in the window at night.

#20 ( _Talent_ ): “You’re a lot more talented than you think; give yourself some credit,” Morty replied with certainty after Falkner mentioned that he was afraid that the only reason he was given the position of Gym Leader in Violet City was because his father was the previous leader and left the gym to his son after he left.

#21 ( _Silence_ ): It was often in the silence that they said the most to each other: when Morty was angry, he grew silent and stewed in his anger until the storm had passed; Falkner always remained silent when he was saddened about something, never wanting to burden everyone around him with his problems; but their favorite silence was the late night quiet when nothing could be heard but their mutual breathing, the feeling of their linked hands reminding them that the other was still there.

#22 ( _Journey_ ): “If it’s too dangerous for me, then it’s too dangerous for you; we’d be stronger together than if it was just one of us and I could easily fly out of a dangerous situation so why won’t you let me go with you?” Falkner asked with a scowl as Morty told him that he was going on another journey and that Falkner was not allowed to follow him because it was “too dangerous.”

#23 ( _Fire_ ): Passion burned in his heart like a wildfire, unable to be quenched or controlled, only made worse by the feeling of the other’s touch; every little touch – no matter how innocent or how suggestive – fed the flames until he had finally had enough and let the flames burning in his core consume him, giving into his desires and letting the fire burn.

#24 ( _Strength_ ): “Strength isn’t measured by how many battles you win; it’s measured by your resilience, how well you recover from losses and your willingness to return to the battle,” murmured Morty, fingers stroking Falkner’s hair consolingly after a particularly hard loss; Falkner wasn’t sure if it was Morty’s powers or his presence in general, but either way he had the ability to make Falkner’s mood improve.

#25 ( _Mask_ ): “When I first saw you, I thought you covered your face with your hair to hide, but now I realize that your face is your mask, constantly hiding behind a façade; when are you finally going to take off the mask and show me who you really are?” Morty snapped one day during a fight, eyes narrowing at Falkner, causing the younger boy to flinch away, both from the harsh glare and the truth.

#26 ( _Ice_ ): “Lugia, your hands are like ice,” Falkner complained as Morty took his hands in his, though he made no move to remove his hands from the other’s icy hands; Morty just smiled and pecked his cheek, telling him that’s what Falkner’s much warmer hands were there for.

#27 ( _Fall_ ): While Falkner had no problems going out of his glider and flying, Morty was much more wary because unlike a Pokémon, a glider would not catch him if he fell; Falkner smiled softly when Morty told him that he was afraid to try flying on the glider and he replied that Morty had nothing to worry about, because he’d always be there to catch him.

#28 ( _Forgotten_ ): Falkner was expecting his seventeenth birthday to be like all the rest – forgotten by everyone around him, except maybe a call from Bugsy and the ever-present yet never welcome gift of incense from the monks at Sprout Tower – but he was pleasantly surprised when his boyfriend took him out on a date long enough for a party to be set up for Falkner at his gym; when the couple returned, Falkner was barely able to respond coherently when he found out that his friends had been planning a surprise party for him.

#29 ( _Dance_ ): “I don’t dance,” Falkner said resolutely as Morty asked him to dance, turning his head to hide the embarrassed look at not knowing how to dance; Morty ignored the other’s words, taking Falkner’s hands in his and leading him out onto the dance floor, and murmured in his ear “then let me teach you.”

#30 ( _Body_ ): Morty wasn’t an expert on body language, but he was extremely adept at being able to decipher the reasons behind physical behaviors of the people close to him, Falkner in particular; he loved the little habits Falkner had, like constantly brushing at his hair shyly or the way he’d lace his fingers together whenever he was nervous.

#31 ( _Sacred)_ : First loves weren’t something you could let go of easily and Morty’s heart always felt a wistful twinge whenever Eusine returned to Ecruteak City, even if the only reason the man was returning was because he had heard of a Suicune sighting there – not for Morty, never for Morty; slowly but surely over time and with a lot of help from Falkner, Morty’s heart began to heal and when Eusine visited, Morty would soon be able to look at the other man without the painful ache of loss in his heart.

#32 ( _Farewells_ ): This isn’t a goodbye because I can’t let him slip through my fingers like this, not when I have a chance to save him – Ho-Oh this is why I didn’t want him coming with me – and I refuse to let him die; Ho-Oh, Lugia, Arceus, please if any Legendary is listening, I beg of you to save him, please!

#33 ( _World_ ): For someone who spent his childhood in a tower being raised by monks, Falkner had seen more of the world than Morty had; the way Falkner knew Hoenn like the back of his hand and how Winona greeted him like a lost long friend when they visited Fortree City made Morty wonder what his boyfriend’s life was like before he became a Gym Leader.

#34 ( _Formal_ ): Morty only wore his traditional robes for certain festivals and holy days – unlike his boyfriend who wore his hakama and haori every day unless there was a rare reason for him to dress down – but that didn’t mean Falkner didn’t appreciate the rare occasion Morty did dress up; although he couldn’t imagine Morty dressing up every day, Falkner loved the way his boyfriend looked in traditional clothing.

#35 ( _Fever_ ): Although Falkner hated to be sick – mostly the part where he needed to be taken care of – he was the one who got sick quite frequently and seldom badly, but on the rare occasion Morty got sick, it was never just a simple cold; the first time Morty got sick around Falkner, his fever was high enough that the younger boy took a few days off from the gym, demanding that no battles be scheduled until Morty was well enough to be on his own.

#36 ( _Laugh_ ): Morty loved Falkner’s laugh – his real laugh, not when he gave a small chuckle to be polite or the forced fits of laughter from tickling – although it was a rare occasion that Falkner gave a genuine laugh; whenever Falkner did laugh though, Morty cherished the moments of lightheartedness between them.

#37 ( _Lies_ ): “You lied to me Morty; how am I supposed to forgive, let alone forget, that?” Falkner shouted through tears, screaming at Morty through the door because he didn’t trust himself enough to be in the same room as Morty without losing it, although that didn’t stop Morty from trying to get in; the blond leader stood outside the door, shouting back at the other, “I’m not leaving until you give me a chance to explain; please Falkner, I’m sorry!”

#38 ( _Forever_ ): “I’m not asking you for forever; I’m asking you for certainty because when I asked about our future, I wasn’t expecting you to give me uncertainty back,” Falkner said with a discontented sigh, “I just want you to have a little faith in us, to believe that we will make it and we won’t end up broken and alone because if that’s what you believe, then that’s what you’ll get.”

#39( _Overwhelmed_ ): Sweet Lugia, he felt like he was drowning, tidal waves crashing as he rode out the intense waves to the end, hands gripping at shoulders, clinging to them like a rock to keep himself from losing himself; oh sweet Lugia, he felt like he couldn’t even breathe, like the pressure was going to crush him, but heaven above, he’d never felt so good before in his life.

#40 ( _Whisper_ ): The night Falkner was inducted into the Pokémon League, Morty snuck away to greet Falkner while a few of the older teenagers began making bets about how serious the young boy was and how much of a stick in the mud he would be; when Morty went over to talk to the blue haired boy, he was greeted with a whispered confession that he was scared to be there, scared to lose his place in the League because he was too weak, and it was at that moment that Morty decided that Falkner wasn’t some stick in the mud who was trying to ignore them – no, he was just a scared kid who needed some reassurance before he took on the greatest challenge of his life.

#42 ( _Talk_ ): “So apparently Falkner went down to Morty’s room because he wanted to ‘talk’ to him,” Whitney told Candice and Flannery with a devious grin on her lips, watching as the two guilty parties walked into the room for breakfast, a suspicious mark on Falkner’s neck half-hidden by his hakama; “Somehow, I doubt that they were just talking,” Flannery replied with an equally sly grin, the look growing more devious as Falkner turned away and blushed when he noticed their eyes on them.

#41 ( _Wait_ ): “Wait,” Morty murmured while grasping onto Falkner’s wrist to keep him from escaping, “about last night…just please at least stay for breakfast so we can talk about it?” but the younger boy already putting on his hakama and getting ready to leave; he murmured excuses about getting back to his gym, incoherent reasons that made no sense, until the feeling of Morty’s warm fingers around his wrist coaxed him into staying.

#43 ( _Search)_ : Pale hands searched under the covers, seeking out the other’s warmth and pulling him against his body, a soft sigh leaving his lips as he nuzzled closer to the warm body next to him; nimble fingers ran through his dark hair, both bodies ignoring the soft streams of light peering in through the blinds, content to bask in their own afterglow.

#44 ( _Hope_ ): What exactly is hope, because if you look in a dictionary, it’ll tell you that hope is ‘a confident desire’ but that’s not what I think of when I imagine what hope is; I imagine dark hair that falls into the left side of a face, one dark and pensive cobalt eye obscured by sapphire strands of hair, and a soft smile that haunts me more than any ghost could even dream to.

#45 ( _Eclipse_ ): The time Morty spent separated from Falkner was like an eclipse, the soft and quiet boy acting as the sun in his life, and without him there was no light, Morty’s love for him casting a shadow over the rest of his life; he needed Falkner back because he couldn’t live without his sun, the lack of light too heartbreaking to bear.

#46 ( _Gravity_ ): Gravity, by definition, is the attraction due to gravitation that the Earth or another astronomical object exerts on an object on or near its surface, or in layman’s terms, the force that keeps us weighted on the ground; however, for some reason whenever I’m around Morty, gravity ceases to exist and I feel like I’m walking on air, although I haven’t been able to put my finger on what that feeling is.

#47 ( _Highway)_ : “True, flying is the most efficient way to travel and the highway is the fastest land route, but taking the less traveled road will make all the difference in the end,” Morty commented as he and Falkner were walking to Goldenrod City, having taken the side roads in an attempt to get Falkner to appreciate the experience of being on land.

#48 ( _Unknown_ ): With the ability to understand both the living world and the spirit world – not to mention his psychic powers – there wasn’t much that Morty considered to be unknown, except for Falkner; Falkner’s aura was incredibly difficult to read compared to the others Morty had met and the younger boy was constantly finding ways to surprise him, something he wasn’t used to as a clairvoyant.

#49 ( _Lock_ ): Falkner tossed the key card at Morty haphazardly, shouting something about needing something back at the gym but he wasn’t allowed to leave the area until his battle with Janine at the Gym Leaders Challenge was over; when Morty tried to give back the key card later, Falkner told him to keep it, saying that his gym would never be locked to Morty and that he spent enough time in his gym that he might as well have his own key.

#50 ( _Breathe_ ): Morty was surprised when he found Falkner waiting outside his gym, having originally planned to go find Falkner himself to apologize, and he was even more surprised by Falkner’s answer when he asked why he was there; Falkner sighed before answering, “because I realized that I couldn’t breathe without you there; I need you more than I need the breath in my body, and sometimes that scares me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The definition in #44 comes from Encarta Dictionaries, first definition; don’t own that either by the way. Nor do I own the songs or poetry used as inspiration for some of theses. Care to take a guess for which ones were musically inspired? It helps if you watch Glee, for the most part xD One is poetry based due to the fact that I was preparing for my AP exams while in the process of writing these. I’m surprised I didn’t write anything in español. Also, #45 and #50 are companions, and I’d like to think that #37 is a prequel to those two. Most likely they’re related to the Eusine/Morty/Falkner situation from the last set. It’s sad that I write things and I don’t even fully understand the plot yet. I’m possibly turning that into a story though since they’re so many holes in the plot if you just get snippets from these sentences.  
> If you were confused, #44 (Hope) and #32 (Farewells) were both first person from Morty’s point of view. #5 (Run) and #39 (Overwhelmed) was third person Falkner’s point of view, #46 (Gravity) is first person from Falkner. You can usually tell who I’m talking about by which legendary is used. Lugia is Falkner and Ho-Oh is Morty. I’ve got a bit of a Greek mythology philosophy for the legendaries. I’ll explain that another time because I’ve already written way too much on these side notes. I’ll just shut up now.  
> …Bleh. It’s ironic. I didn’t like the prompts last time, but I liked how they turned out. I liked the prompts this time, but I don’t like how these turned out. I’m such a nitpick. Maybe they’ll grow on me.


	4. Quatre

#1 ( _Air_ ): Morty wasn't used to flying – usually he walked where he needed to be or used a form of transportation found on the ground – but after he started getting to know Falkner, he started flying a lot more often; the feeling of flying through the air reminded him of the blue-haired boy and brought him closer to Falkner even when he wasn't there.

#2 ( _Apples_ ): "Shut up; at least I'm not old like you," Falkner quipped while tossing a Leppa Berry at Morty, who scowled at the comment; Morty took a bite of the berry, replying around it "since when did you grow a sense of humor?"

#3 ( _Beginning_ ): "With the end of an old era, a new one is ushered in," Falkner commented with a smile as he saw Elder Li of the Kikyou shake hands with the Enju leader, reaching over to squeeze Morty's hand at the sign of peace between their religions; they were one step closer to creating peace between their religions and one step closer to their relationship being approved of – because even though it was just the beginning, every solution needs to start somewhere.

#4 ( _Bugs_ ): Bugsy stared at Morty with a scrutinizing expression – Falkner standing behind him with an amused expression and Whitney scowling slightly – before muttering that Morty "had better take care of Falkner" with what seemed to be an attempt at an intimidating expression on his face; Falkner had to hide a smile at his friend's protectiveness, mentally reminding himself to tell Bugsy later that he didn't need to worry about Morty.

#5 ( _Coffee_ ): Falkner was always the first one up when he was staying with Morty – considering Morty was not a morning person and needed caffeine to wake himself up – but it took him a few weeks, and more than a few failed attempts, to understand how a coffee maker works; whenever Morty woke up, he found Falkner in the kitchen – usually with ground coffee scattered on the table or on Falkner himself – with an extremely confused and vaguely hopeless expression on his face.

#6 ( _Dark_ ): Opening or closing his eyes made no difference to Falkner because the darkness surrounded him all the same, unable to wake from the nightmare his mind – or perhaps a Ghost? – had created; slowly a light began to appear, a soft and warm voice calling to him and telling him that it was time to wake up, and the darkness began to fade, Morty's visage appearing in its wake.

#7 ( _Despair_ ): "Please Falkner, don't leave me; please, please wake up…" Morty's voice broke as he clutched desperately at Falkner's cold and lifeless hand, despair and anguish clutching at Morty's heart, and each breath he took felt like agony without Falkner's presence; held-back sobs wracked his frame as he held the broken body of his boyfriend to his chest, and oh Ho-Oh, why was this happening to them?

#8 ( _Doors_ ): The first time Morty opened the doors to Falkner's gym with the key card he was given, it was to retrieve a package the younger boy needed while he was busy battling Janine at the Gym Leaders Challenge, but the next time he visited Falkner's gym he entered on his own; slowly Morty got used to unlocking the doors to the gym himself and to considering the Violet City Gym his home away from home.

#9 ( _Drink_ ): "Drink," Falkner's calm voice commanded sternly as he held a glass of water to Morty's lips, helping him drink the cool water that assuaged the fire burning in his throat; Morty's eyes were glazed over from the fever and he murmured incoherently something that sounded suspiciously like I love you, but Falkner just chalked that up to the fever – although it still made his heart pound either way.

#10 ( _Duty_ ): Although Falkner chose not to go into the life of Kikyou priesthood, he still followed a lot of duties for the Kikyou religion because Morty often noticed incense burning – although he knew Falkner was not a fan of the traditional incense used by the monks – for the various religious festivals and he wore the traditional hakama and haori of the priests every day; the only tradition Falkner broke was the decree that the Kikyou must not consort with any Enju, and Falkner had a feeling he wasn't going to start following that rule anytime soon.

#11 ( _Earth_ ): Neither Falkner nor Morty belonged on the earth and maybe that was why they got along so well with each other; Falkner belonged in the sky and Morty belonged to the spirit world and because of this, neither male truly fit in on earth, but they fit perfectly with each other.

#12 ( _End_ ): "This isn't the end," Falkner said resolutely after yet another failed plan to unite the Kikyou and Enju sects; his fingers laced with Morty's, a clear defiance in the face of his elders, telling them that he would fight for unity between the feuding religions until his dying breath, not just for himself and Morty, but for all the peoples of their respective religions.

#13 ( _Fall_ ): Although Morty loved the winter, Falkner loved autumn because of the warm and mellow nature of the season; unlike summer's sweltering heat and spring's overbearing vibrancy, autumn was the perfect season for the Flying specialist, not to mention he frequently visited the Bellchime Trail to have lunch there with Morty while the leaves were changing.

#14 ( _Fire_ ): "I'm willing to endure your damnation," Falkner bit out, his tone as fiery as the punishment the monks threatened him with, "because I'm just trying to establish peace between our sects; why do you continue fighting with the Enju if our message is peace, because I refuse to be a hypocrite and I will brave any punishment you see fit until you can see the truth of my actions."

#15 ( _Flexible_ ): "The Kikyou are not exactly flexible…" Falkner, looking frightened amongst the people who he had been told to consider his enemies, attempted to explain at a meeting with the Enju elders, Morty's hand on his shoulder reminding him that he was not alone; sweet Lugia forgive him, he felt like a traitor for this, but it was all for the sake of peace between the two religions.

#16 ( _Flying_ ): When Falkner flew in the air, he felt a physical sense of freedom, the feeling of flight penetrating every fiber of his being, but when he was with Morty, his heart felt like it was soaring; the sense of freedom and weightlessness he thought he could only experience in the air always seemed to spread through Falkner whenever he was around Morty, despite his feet being firmly on the ground.

#17 ( _Food_ ): Food was a necessity, not a luxury to Falkner – having been raised with monks who lived on next to nothing – which explained the bland foods he ate and his small figure, but Morty couldn't stand to eat anything without at least some form of flavor; Morty stored spices at Falkner's gym for when he was staying for dinner, but he noticed the way the spices were used throughout the week, his influence slowly creeping into Falkner's eating habits.

#18 ( _Foot_ ): Although Falkner didn't blame him, Morty blamed himself because of the ankle injury Falkner got during a trip with him, the injury keeping Falkner out of the air and on the ground; Morty winced every time Falkner would look out the window longingly, clearly wishing he was out flying, and made a mental note to find a way to make it up to Falkner – even if Falkner didn't blame him and didn't want him to try making it up to him.

#19 ( _Grave_ ): Just like the sky was Falkner's domain, graveyards were a second home to Morty and Falkner would often make trips to the local graveyard in an attempt to understand a piece of Morty's world; graveyards always felt dark and morbid to Falkner, like the hand of death was lingering there, but Morty always seemed calm and peaceful as though he was shielded from death's presence.

#20 ( _Green_ ): When Falkner was at his first Gym Leaders Challenge, his heart was pounding with nerves, which were not soothed in the least when Morty came up to warn him that because he was the new kid, everyone was gunning to knock him out of the tournament; after Morty told him that Falkner was going be cheering for him during his match, Falkner's heart began pounding for a completely different reason than his nerves.

#21 ( _Head_ ): Falkner stifled a laugh as his Pidgey begin pecking at Morty's hair, the tiny bird attempting to preen Morty's perpetually messy hair, and he eventually needed to take the Pidgey outside to get him away from Morty; when he returned from bringing the Pidgey outside, Falkner laughed and told Morty it was the Pidgey's way of welcoming Morty to the family.

#22 ( _Hollow_ ): It felt like the breath was stolen right out of Falkner and his chest was hollow – oh Lugia, how could being hollow hurt so much? He thought if you were hollow, it meant you couldn't feel anything – when he walked in on Morty and Eusine against the wall; his heart felt like it had been torn out, but somehow the wound that it left behind hurt more than being broken.

#23 ( _Honor_ ): One of the things that drew Morty and Falkner together was their sense of honor; Morty believed in bringing justice to all those who were in need and Falkner wanted to spread peace between people, and somehow along the way of following their respective senses of honor, they found each other.

#24 ( _Hope_ ): "Bring him back; please, just…bring him back," Morty begged through his tears, holding Falkner's bloodied body close to his chest, the other's blood staining his clothing and covering his hands; Jirachi glowed warmly, smiling at the two before flitting away and when Morty looked down at the body in his arms, Falkner's wounds were already healed and his chest was rising and falling slowly as he began breathing again, the soft sound of Falkner's breathing enough to make Morty begin crying again.

#25 ( _Light_ ): When Morty looked at someone's aura, he was able to see someone's inner light, the very essence of their soul; when Morty looked at Falkner, he saw a soft blue color but as time went on, he noticed hints of bright pink seeping into the younger boy's aura, a sign of love and affection.

#26 ( _Lost_ ): Morty was surprised that as often as Falkner flew to foreign lands, he never got lost; when he asked his boyfriend about it, he wondered if perhaps Falkner had some sort of internal compass that pointed him in the right direction, but in reality, it was just because Falkner carried his Pokétech with him and it had a map application.

#27 ( _Metal_ ): "Are you sure it was a good idea to practice with real swords?" Falkner asked with a smirk as he knocked the sword out of Morty's hands easily, the tip of his blade tilting the other's chin up carefully; as Falkner sheathed his sword, Morty couldn't help but both admire the other's talent with a sword and fear the deadly capacity of a blade in Falkner's hands.

#28 ( _New_ ): Morty blinked in surprise, turning to Falkner when he felt a hesitant hand grasp onto his, and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze back; their relationship was still new and Falkner wasn't sure how to express physical affection, but he was beginning to step in the right direction because even if it was just holding hands, Falkner had to start somewhere.

#29 ( _Old_ ): "You make me feel so old, Falkner," Morty complained after meeting with Falkner's friends, having been the only nineteen year old in a group of sixteen year olds, "they're going to start calling me a pedophile soon for dating you, and it doesn't help that you're so innocent and I'm the big bad Ghost trainer who's almost expected to corrupt you."

#30 ( _Peace_ ): Although sleeping through the night without nightmares would seem like a simple feat to some, it was almost a miracle to Falkner when he was sleeping over at Morty's gym; the first time he woke up peacefully in Morty's bed was a pleasant surprise because it meant that the ghosts under Morty's ownership had finally accepted Falkner as a part of their life.

#31 ( _Poison_ ): Eusine was like a poison, a toxin that had entered his system and traveled to his heart, draining him of vitality; Falkner was revitalizing with gentle hands and even gentler words, the cure to the poison that had plagued Morty's heart for so long.

#32 ( _Pretty_ ): When Morty looked into Falkner's eyes, he saw clear azure depths within the boy's eyes, the color of the sky reflected in the orbs; whenever he'd tell Falkner that he had beautiful eyes, the younger boy would blush and deny the claim, saying that his eyes were nothing special, but that didn't stop Morty from continually telling him how striking his eyes were.

#33 ( _Rain_ ): "How exactly do you see in the rain?" Morty asked in exasperation after Falkner showed up soaked outside his gym, having flown from his gym in Violet City to Ecruteak City; Falkner just gave him a sheepish smile, keeping quiet about the fact that he couldn't see, but he didn't let that stop him from going to see Morty.

#34 ( _Regret_ ): Morty held a hand out as if to stop Falkner as the younger boy as he fled the room, the bitter taste of regret filling Morty's mouth; he didn't want to let things end this way, with Falkner leaving angry and hurt, the possibility that everything was…no, he wouldn't let things end this way – Morty refused to regret this if he still had the ability to change things – and he ran after Falkner with the plans to get rid of the bitter taste of regret.

#35 ( _Roses_ ): "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," Morty murmured, his face buried against Falkner's hair and his arms wrapped tightly around the boy's slight frame as though Falkner would be taken away if he let go; Falkner's arms returned the hug, his voice murmuring back that they would be able to find a way around their families' prejudices.

#36 ( _Secret)_ : Morty originally wanted to keep his relationship with Falkner to be a secret, but his reasons weren't for himself; he was afraid of the backlash Falkner would endure from the Kikyou monks if they discovered he was dating an Enju – although the Enju were a bit more accepting of Falkner so there was less reason for worry on Morty's side – and also the rumors that would start flying within the League when it was discovered that two Gym Leaders were dating.

#37 ( _Snakes_ ): "I didn't know you hated snakes," Morty commented as Falkner's eyes widened and he took a step back as a Seviper slithered across their path; Falkner shuddered and turned away from the large snake, muttering in reply, "they eat birds; why on earth would I like them?"

#38 ( _Snow_ ): "Oh come on Falkner, walking through the snow won't kill you," Morty laughed as Falkner stared at the snow warily, still standing on the porch away from the cold white snow; Morty just rolled his eyes and grabbed onto Falkner's arm, dragging him through the snow and laughing as Falkner yelped as the cold snow began seeping through his socks.

#39 ( _Solid_ ): Although many people were surprised at the revelation that Morty and Falkner were dating, they were even more surprised when they found out how solid and stable their relationship was; no one expected them to get along well, or that their personalities would clash, but somehow their personalities fit together perfectly.

#40 ( _Spring_ ): Although spring wasn't Falkner's favorite season, he definitely preferred it more than Morty, who had springtime allergies; Falkner had to hide a smile as he watched Morty sneeze every few minutes, the force of his sneezes enough to make him stop whatever he was doing.

#41 ( _Stable_ ): "You know, I've always wondered how you built the lift…and how stable it is…" Morty mentioned one day as he and Falkner were taking the lift to the upper level of Falkner's gym; Falkner simply smiled mysteriously, staying silent and secretly amused by his boyfriend's apprehension at taking the rickety lift.

#42 ( _Strange_ ): There were a lot of things that were considered strange about Morty – namely the fact that he was a Ghost specialist with a mellow and good-natured personality, almost unheard of in the Pokémon world – but Falkner couldn't quite say he minded; the tiny quirks of Morty's personality were what made him Morty and Falkner wouldn't have it any other way.

#43 ( _Summer_ ): Summer meant a break from school to students, but it meant more challengers for gym leaders because the students no longer had classes to attend or homework to finish; Morty's least favorite season was summer – although it was also partially because of the overbearing heat – because it meant that he had less free time and got to see Falkner less often than he liked.

#44 ( _Taboo_ ): "Not only is Morty Matsuba male, he is part of the Enju clan; this is forbidden Falkner, and as a Kikyou priest, you should know that!" Elder Li, the head of the monks at Sprout Tower, shouted after Falkner came to the tower with the news that he was involved in a relationship with Morty; "well, I supposed that isn't a good thing that I didn't become a priest after all, isn't it?" Falkner replied icily before turning his back and leaving Sprout Tower to join Morty outside.

#45 ( _Ugly_ ): "I look horrible," Falkner complained, his voice muffled by the pillow he was talking into, and pulled the covers over his head; Morty chuckled, setting down the soup on the nightstand, and pulled the blankets away from his sick boyfriend to smooth down his hair and attempt to convince him that he didn't look too bad – although there was on denying the blotchy redness on his cheeks and the tired look in his eyes.

#46 ( _War_ ): The war had been going on since the Brass Tower had burned down, forcing Lugia to leave its home and Ho-Oh abandoning its perch at the Bell Tower as well, but the war was not between the humans and Pokémon; the war was between the people of Ecruteak City, who dutifully awaited the return of Ho-Oh, and Violet City, who blamed the exodus of the Legendary Pokémon from the two towers on the Enju clan of Ecruteak.

#47 ( _Water_ ): Johto didn't have beautiful beaches like Hoenn or crystalline lakes like Sinnoh, but the shores of Olivine City were beautiful; Morty loved playing in the ocean – and usually dragging an unwilling Falkner into the frigid water – and Falkner loved the way the moon would reflect on the ocean at night while watching the tides and laying in Morty's arms under the stars.

#48 ( _Welcome_ ): Falkner winced as he took another look at Sprout Tower before turning his back and walking away from the place he had called home for sixteen years; he knew he would never be welcome there as long as he and Morty were together, but if that was the price to be with the one he loved, he'd gladly pay the price a thousand times over.

#49 ( _Winter_ ): It was a well known fact that Falkner hated the winter – it was freezing and dreary – but Morty was attracted to the somber and serene nature of the cold season, the essence of winter seeming to be a spirit itself; although Falkner hated the winter, he had to admit that walking down the Bellchime Trail with snow covering the path and Morty's arms around him to keep him warm made him a little fonder of winter.

#50 ( _Wood_ ): Although Falkner hated the winter, there was one aspect of the cold weather that he loved: whenever he was too cold and Morty was around, he'd throw wood into the fireplace and curl up with his boyfriend, a cup of hot chocolate in his hands; he'd often fall asleep in front of the fire in his boyfriend's arms, leaning against Morty and using him as a pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mm, I feel like I should explain the entire "war" between Ecruteak and Violet City someday. I haven't really written a lot of notes yet, so I guess this will be my exposition for the Legendary Pantheon and the war. The "war" is actually a split between the Kikyou and Enju religions (the Japanese names for Violet and Ecruteak actually) because of the Brass Tower burning down, resulting in the Burned Tower. When Lugia left, the Kikyou peoples blamed it on Ecruteak City and the people who lived there. The Kikyou hold great hostility toward the Enju for Lugia leaving and the Enju resent the Kikyou for blaming them on something that wasn't their fault. The Kikyou took up Lugia as their primary Legendary after the split and the Enju took Ho-Oh.
> 
> And the Pantheon? That's what I consider the order of power among the legendaries. If you understand Greek mythology, it helps. Arceus is basically your Zeus; he holds power over all the other legendaries. Giratina is Hades and the Distortion World is pretty much the Underworld; he's the legendary of the underworld and death. Palkia controls space and Dialga controls time; that much didn't really change. Ho-Oh and Lugia are the principal flying legendaries; Ho-Oh is the sun and Lugia is the moon. They have dominion over the other legendaries. Articuno is the embodiment of ice. Zapdos has the power of thunder/lightning. Moltres is the spirit of fire. Heatran has dominion over volcanoes though. Mew created the Pokémon and is the Legendary creator. Celebi is the guardian of forests and purity. Shaymin is the Legendary of vegetation/flora/etc. Kyogre controls the oceans of the world, Groudon rules over the earth, and Rayquaza protects the skies. Darkrai controls darkness and healing and Cresselia promotes good dreams and healing; Cresselia's power is drawn from Lugia and Darkrai's power is from Giratina. Raikou is the physical power of thunder, drawn from Zapdos and his power is used for destruction. Entei is wildfire, drawn from Moltres. Suicune controls rain and its healing properties. Regice draws his power from Articuno and created the ice regions of the world. Regirock created the deserts and mountains and Registeel created the minerals of the world. Regigigas created the continents and their layout. Latias and Latios are the twin embodiments of the soul, female and male respectively. Jirachi is the Legendary of wishes and hope. Deoxys is the Legendary of outer space. Azelf is the embodiment of willpower. Uxie represents knowledge and Mespirit is emotion. Each lives in their own sacred lake, a shrine to them. Manaphy is the spirit of the sea, rather than a physical embodiment; Phione is its child. Each Legendary is a deity and there's a specific region associated with their worship. In my world, there's only one of each legendary. The best way to understand it is to think of Greek mythology. Hope this makes sense to someone other than me xD
> 
> …I didn't realize how long this was though. o.o I don't think I forgot anyone. I don't count Mewtwo though, sorry. Oh, and more often than not, for last names I prefer to use the character's name in another language (usually Japanese) hence the reason Morty's last name is Matsuba and Falkner's is Hayato.
> 
> You know what's really ironic? The prompt I had the most difficult time with was "honor." I'm not a huge fan of what I did with the prompt, but that's okay. I'll live. Oh and for #25(Light) the colors mean:
> 
> Soft blue: Peacefulness, clarity and communication; truthful; intuitive
> 
> Bright pink: Loving, tender, sensitive, sensual, artistic, affection, purity, compassion; new or revived romantic relationship. Can indicate clairvoyance.
> 
> By the way, the prompts that were based off a song last time were #19 (Candle) (I Can't Fight This Feeling and #50 (Breathe) (No Air). #47 (Highway) was inspired by the Robert Frost poem "The Road Not Taken." I can't even remember if there were any others but whatever xD


	5. Cinq

#1 ( _Motion_ ): Falkner noticed a change in his daily routine after Morty became a larger part of his life because of an effect that could only be described as pure Morty; colors seemed brighter, sounds seemed richer, and the everyday motions of life became a lot more interesting as long as Morty was around to brighten his life.

#2 ( _Cool_ ): Morty groaned softly and tried to push away the hand that was holding the cup of cool water being forced down his throat, his vision blurred and his mind just as fuzzy from the fever; Falkner stroked his hair gently and whispered soothingly after the older boy finally finished the small cup of water, hoping the fever would break soon because he could not stop worrying about his boyfriend’s health.

#3 ( _Young_ ): Although Morty was three years older than Falkner, he rarely noticed that the Flying Leader was younger than him since more often than not Falkner acted older than Morty, but whenever Falkner was with his friends, Morty could notice the difference because Bugsy was still a kid at heart and in body – despite the fact that he was the same age as Falkner – and Whitney was forever stuck in a preteen mindset; when Falkner was around the other two gym leaders, Morty noticed a change in his boyfriend’s behavior, his demeanor lighter and much less serious, a very rare sight to behold and an experience Morty felt privileged to witness.

#4 ( _Last_ ): When Falkner went to the Gym Leaders Challenge, he was terrified that his first battle was going to be his last battle, so terrified that he could barely move when he was called up to battle Janine; he probably would have remained frozen if it wasn’t for Morty stopping by to whisper good luck in his ear and pointing him in the direction to walk.

#5 ( _Wrong_ ): “How can you preach to me about spreading peace and showing love to everyone, yet you can’t accept my love for Morty?” Falkner asked after yet another fruitless meeting with his temple’s elders; he was getting nowhere with him, but that didn’t mean he was going to stop trying because as long as they considered it “wrong,” he didn’t want to be right.

#6 ( _Gentle_ ): If Morty had to describe Falkner in one word, it would have to be gentle because whether it was the soothing stroking of his hands or the soft caress of Falkner’s lips against his, Falkner was always gentle.

#7 ( _One_ ): Morty wasn’t sure of the concept of “the one” – people always talked about the one, not the many – because people didn’t just date and fall in love with one person in their entire lifetime, but after Morty had fallen in love with Falkner, he suddenly understood the concept of the one; of all the people you loved, there was that one person who mattered more than anyone else, who shone the brightest, and who made you realize you couldn’t possibly live without that person and for Morty, it was Falkner who was that person.

#8 ( _Thousand_ ): There were millions of people in the world, thousands of Pokémon trainers, hundreds of competent trainers, eight gym leaders per region, four elites, and one champion, but to Morty there was one person who mattered more than the rest, more than anyone else could ever matter: Falkner.

#9 ( _King_ ): Falkner just laughed when a stranger referred to him as the “king of the sky” but Morty couldn’t help but think that there was a note of truth in the title; there was a certain regal elegance Falkner possessed – both in the sky and on land – that Morty couldn’t help but be reminded of royalty whenever he saw the dark haired boy.    

#10 ( _Learn_ ): “Maybe I’ll never learn,” Falkner replied coolly to Whitney after she chastised him for staying with Morty after yet another fight while Bugsy remained silent in the background, listening to the pink haired girl rant about how Morty and Falkner weren’t right for each other; eventually the Flying specialist had decided that he’d had enough and picked up his bag, bidding both his friends adieu before leaving calmly in search of Morty to give him a much deserved apology.

#11 ( _Blur_ ): Falkner’s vision began to blur, his eyes stinging with unshed tears, after Morty stormed out of the room and the blue haired boy fell back against the wall, his hand covering his mouth to stifle the sobs rising in his throat; he was so sick of fighting with Morty because nothing ever came out of their fights, nothing except pain on both sides.

#12 ( _Wait_ ): “Please wait,” Falkner called out in a broken voice as Morty began storming out of the room, his hand reaching out toward the other’s retreating figure, and damn it to hell, why were their arguments always like this, with Falkner picking fights over seemingly nothing and Morty’s temper flaring in the end and causing him to storm out; why did they keep hurting each other like this when neither of them wanted to cause the other pain, and was it really worth hurting each other and themselves in the end?

#13 ( _Change_ ): “I’m sick of waiting for things to change,” Falkner stated defiantly before pulling Morty into a kiss; Falkner refused to keep hiding and wait for the Kikyou elders to finally approve of his relationship with Morty because quite frankly he didn’t need their approval and he wasn’t going to keep waiting on them to change their minds.

#14 ( _Command_ ): “Never a command, always a request,” Morty murmured softly after asking Falkner if he could swing by the gym, a gesture that meant more to Falkner than the other could possibly know; after spending sixteen years in the Sprout Tower and being forced to do whatever the monks demanded of him – never being given a choice about what he was allowed to do – it was a pleasant change to choose what he wanted to do.

#15 ( _Hold_ ): Morty was very surprised to discover his boyfriend was the cuddling type and that more often when not when they were laying down together, Falkner would nestle himself against Morty’s side and would only relax once he felt the other’s arms holding him; Morty couldn’t complain though because the feeling of Falkner in his arms and being able to share warmth with the younger boy was more than enough to remind him that he was loved.

#16 ( _Need_ ): There were a lot of obstacles standing in the way of their relationship – Eusine, Whitney, their elders – but none of that mattered to either of them in the end because in the end they only needed one thing to get them through the day; the only thing they needed was love and as long as they had that, they could brave any obstacle that came their way.

#17 ( _Vision_ ): Morty rarely used his powers – letting visions come to him, rather than trying to seek out the future on his own – but after he noticed Falkner’s tendency to fly during storms and constantly worried about his boyfriend because of his impulsive nature, he often checked the future to make sure his boyfriend would be okay flying out in the storm.

#18 ( _Attention_ ): Unlike Whitney, Falkner was not the type of person who craved attention – actually he was the type who shied away from crowds and hated to be the center of gossip – so when the news spread that Falkner and Morty were in a relationship, Falkner was mildly horrified; he wasn’t sure if he could handle one more challenger coming into his gym and asking questions about his and Morty’s love life, specifically how far they had gone because that one question in particular would make the Flying Leader blush and stutter out a shy reply that it was no one else’s business except his and Morty’s.

#19 ( _Soul_ ): “Do you think souls have genders?” Morty asked curiously one night, causing Falkner to quietly meditate on the thought before answering; “I believe that a soul has no bias, that neither gender, nor appearance, nor nothing else could influence one’s decision to love; a soul is free to love whomever it chooses,” Falkner replied pensively, his hand going to squeeze Morty’s and a soft smile gracing his lips.

#20 ( _Picture_ ): When Morty was given the pictures from the latest party for the Pokémon League, he couldn’t help but laugh that in every picture he was in, Falkner was at his side, almost always clinging to his arm and trying to hide from the crowd; Morty couldn’t resist hanging up the picture of the two of them – both parties oblivious to the picture being taken while Morty attempted to steal a kiss without being noticed – and waiting to see how long it would take his shy boyfriend to notice the picture and blush in embarrassment at being caught.

#21 _(Fool_ ): “You’re a fool Falkner for thinking he’ll love you; he’ll break your heart just like he broke mine, so don’t come crying to me when that happens because I’ll only tell you that I told you so!” Whitney screamed harshly after Falkner came to visit – hoping to apologize for keeping his relationship with Morty secret from her; although Falkner knew it was only her jealousy talking, his heart had stopped for a moment at the possibility that she was right, that Morty would get bored of him and move onto someone else, and the possibility that she was right absolutely terrified him.

#22 ( _Mad_ ): “I come with a lot of baggage Falkner; you’d have to be mad to want to stay with me,” Morty told his boyfriend despondently, afraid of the ghosts of his past coming to haunt the both of them; “I must be mad as a hatter then, because there’s no way I’m leaving you,” Falkner replied resolutely and gripped onto Morty’s hand, lacing their fingers together and holding their joined hands up to show the other that he was here to stay.

#23 ( _Child_ ): Considering how harsh and severe Falkner came off to most people, it was remarkable how childlike he actually was; whenever Morty introduced him to something new – often something modern that Falkner had been deprived of previously – the blue haired boy’s eyes would light up, shining with eagerness to learn.

#24 ( _Now_ ): “ _Do not dwell in the past_ , do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment,” Morty echoed the teachings of the Enju religion and squeezed Falkner’s hand; he was done dwelling in the past with Eusine and waiting on the verdict of his and Falkner’s respective religions, because he had Falkner with him here and now and that’s all that really mattered.

#25 _(Shadow)_ : “According to your ghosts, I should be afraid of the shadows, according to my elders, I shouldn’t be with you, but according to my heart, I love you,” Falkner replied firmly after Morty tried to convince him that he wasn’t good for Falkner and that he’d only end up hurting the younger boy in the end; didn’t Morty realize that he wasn’t like Eusine and Falkner wasn’t going to get burned, and even if he did get hurt, didn’t Morty see that it was worth the pain because without sadness, how could they know joy?

#26 ( _Goodbye_ ): “Just get out because right now I don’t even want to see you!” Falkner yelled in frustration, trying not to cry in front of Morty, and pointed to the door of his gym, not entirely sure if this was goodbye or not; Morty shook his head, standing his ground and refusing to move, replying that he wouldn’t leave if they were still fighting.

#27 ( _Hide)_ : “What are you trying to hide from Falkner?” Morty asked in frustration one day after the younger boy had fled the gym after a fight, not expecting Morty to chase after him; “you can’t hide from your feelings because whether you like it or not, you have to face them,” Falkner remained silent and pensive as the older boy continued talking, meditating on his words and the fact that he was right.

#28 ( _Fortune_ ): “I have a fortune, one that matters more to me than money, something more valuable than all the riches of the world,” Falkner said calmly when he was asked if he resented the fact that he made the least amount of money in the Johto League; the Flying Leader’s eyes softened - the image of a certain blond leader appearing in his mind – as he replied to the question of what his fortune was, telling the young trainer that it was love.

#29 ( _Safe_ ): Although Morty’s ghosts were not pleased with Falkner’s presence intruding in their home, they wouldn’t dare do anything in front of their master, so the Flying Leader was safe so long as Morty was around; every night Falkner stayed over at Morty’s gym, he started out sleeping on the couch and quickly moved to the Ghost specialist’s bed until finally deciding to start out the night in Morty’s bed – a decision neither of them was particularly opposed to.

#30 ( _Ghost_ ): Falkner was never afraid of ghosts prior to meeting Morty – the Sprout Tower was filled with Gastly at night after all – but after he met the Ghost specialist, he knew the ghosts under Morty’s control were determined to make him afraid of them; much to their disappointment, Falkner took their torments in stride, refusing to bow down and admit he was afraid.

#31 ( _Book_ ): The first time Falkner found Morty reading, he was extremely surprised due to the fact that he had never seen Morty crack a book – or even show that he owned a book – in the entire time he had known the other; when the blue haired boy asked about it, Morty held up the book, _Romeo and Juliet_ , and told his boyfriend that he was reading it to see where the star-crossed lovers had gone wrong and how to prevent themselves from making the same mistakes.

#32 ( _Eye_ ): Morty always wondered why Falkner’s hair covered one of his eyes, his imagination often creating wilder theories than anything that could possibly be true; he was almost disappointed when he brushed back Falkner’s bangs to see both his eyes were normal and fully functional – almost disappointed until he saw both of Falkner’s eyes giving him a loving look, and then Morty was absolutely mesmerized.

#33 ( _Never_ ): Morty didn’t believe in the idea of never, the idea that something could not happen at any point, but Falkner was the opposite, believing that no matter how much one tried, some things could simply not be done; when the two met, their clashing opinions of the idea of never were bound to start fights, but to everyone’s surprise, their opinions began to balance each other out, grounding Morty’s naïve optimism and lightening Falkner’s unshakable pessimism.

#34 ( _Sing_ ): Morty was used to hearing whistles and bird calls in Falkner’s gym, the various trills and noises a way for the trainers to communicate with the birds, but he had never heard the Flying Leader sing before; after the first time Morty heard the other boy sing – on a quiet night with the two of them laying out on the roof of Falkner’s gym – he knew that Falkner’s talent lay in much more than just bird calls.

#35 ( _Sudden_ ): According to the information Falkner could gather from Whitney and her gossip – his only source of understanding modern common knowledge – the process of falling in love seemed like a sudden process, something you just knew the moment it happened, but one day he’d have to tell Whitney she was wrong because Falkner couldn’t pin the exact moment he fell in love with Morty; the process happened over time, a gradual development that was so subtle Falkner didn’t even realize it was happening.

#36 ( _Stop_ ): Morty didn’t mean to get so angry, but once he lost control, it was like a snowball effect – the problem getting bigger and bigger until he couldn’t stop it – and he could see the fear in Falkner’s eyes the entire time; even after the conversation had ended and the fight was over, both of them could still feel the tension because a warzone always remained bleak even after the last gun had been silenced, and the two gym leaders could only hope that this battle wasn’t the end of their relationship.

#37 ( _Time_ ): Despite how many times they fought, neither of them ever thought that time would be the last time or that this fight would be the one to end it all because they both realized that fighting was part of being human and they would be able to work past their issues; no matter what bumps in the road came their way, they wouldn’t veer off the course because they had each other to guide the other back whenever one of them began to stray off the path.

#38 ( _Wash_ ): “…When was the last time you did your laundry?” Falkner asked in slight horror as he walked into Morty’s room, clothes strewn about the room haphazardly; Morty laughed sheepishly, unable to remember the last time he had washed his clothing, and made a mental note to attempt to clean before the next time Falkner visited.

#39 ( _Torn_ ): Morty could almost feel two opposing forces pulling at him, dark and light, past and present, Eusine and Falkner, the two forces threatening to tear him in half –without even meaning to – and holding him in place; every time he tried to move forward with Falkner, he could feel Eusine pulling him back, frozen in time and unable to move forward or back so long as the two of them kept tearing his heart in two different directions.

#40 ( _History_ ): “If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the past, it’s that history repeats itself unless someone breaks the cycle and makes change happen,” Falkner said firmly, his voice clear and strong as he approached both his elders and Morty’s, “and that’s what I’m here to do; I’m making a change and breaking this cycle of hatred that has gone on for far too long, not only because I love Morty, but because I want the generations to come to have the same freedom that I have to fight for, a freedom to love whomever I choose, a freedom that is a right given to us by the Legendaries, and a freedom that I should not have to fight for, but I do and I will continue fighting for until I make the change in this world that I wish to see.”

#41 ( _Power_ ): Falkner often wondered why Morty wanted to be with him, the lowest of all the gym leaders, when he could be with someone better, someone more powerful and more worthy of the Ghost specialist; the blue haired boy didn’t even need to bring up his fears to Morty because whenever the blond could sense his boyfriend’s insecurities, he’d be there to remind him that he chose to be with Falkner because he wanted to be with him and for no other reason, and that there was no one else he’d rather be with.

#42 ( _Bother)_ : Falkner was the type of person who rarely made a fuss about anything because he didn’t want to be a bother, no matter how much something upset him; when it came to fighting with Morty, the blond often had to decode Falkner’s behavior to discover if he had done something to upset the younger boy because Morty knew that Falkner would never reveal if something actually upset him.

#43 ( _God_ ): You know, it doesn’t make much sense that our clans are at war with each other when our Legendaries coexist in peace; you’d think we’d be emulating them, rather than starting senseless disputes over an age-old argument that none of us now were even alive for.

#44 ( _Wall_ ): Falkner put up walls around his heart to keep others out and to keep himself safe from being hurt, constantly on guard to protect himself; it wasn’t until Morty came along that those walls slowly began coming down – sometimes by force and sometimes by choice – but Falkner didn’t regret one moment of it because when Morty shattered through the walls protecting his heart, Falkner was finally able to start letting people in.

#45 ( _Naked_ ): Heated flesh met – no clothing there to act as a barrier – and elicited soft gasps and moans from the both of them while fingers groped at bare skin, unable to find purchase; hands snaked their way up into blond hair, pulling at the lightly colored strands as the world around them began to blur.

#46 ( _Drive_ ): “We have something more than those who have come before us; we have the drive to win, to see our cause through until the end, and most importantly, we have each other for when we need support,” Morty murmured encouragingly in his boyfriend’s ear; Falkner smiled and grasped the other’s hand in his own, murmuring back they needed nothing more than that.

#47( _Harm_ ): Morty hated the way pain would flash through Falkner’s eyes every time they fought because he could visibly see the way he was hurting Falkner; although his intentions were pure in attempting to break off the relationship to keep himself from causing the younger boy any more pain, Falkner refused to let them break up over a reason like that because no matter how much they fought, he would always love Morty and the love they shared always made the pain worth it.

#48 ( _Precious_ ): “Because there’s nothing more precious to me than you,” Morty whispered back softly after Falkner asked why he came back, the younger boy turned around in an attempt to hide his red eyes; “I’m so sorry Falkner; no fight is worth hurting you,” Morty’s hand stroked his boyfriend’s back comfortingly until Falkner finally gave in – his pride giving in to his heart – and he wrapped his arms around the blond tightly, whispering that he was forgiven.

#49 ( _Hunger_ ): Falkner shivered at the predatory gaze Morty was giving him, the older boy’s lips trailing down his neck hungrily, pushing the hakama out of the way, and his hands running along his sides; oh Ho-Oh, they shouldn’t be doing this in his gym when anyone could walk in at any given moment, but it felt too good to stop now.

#50 ( _Believe_ ): “What do you believe in?” Morty asked softly during a quiet summer night – the chirping of bugs and trilling of birds only other sounds that could be heard – and the question sparked a fire in Falkner’s mind; he knew the many things he was told to believe in – Ho-Oh, his elders, his Pokémon – but none of those things were the answer he whispered back just as softly to the blond laying in the grass next to him: “you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, let’s do some recapping. If there was any confusion, #43 (God) was from Morty’s point of view. #24 (Now) is a quote from Buddhism. I paraphrased a quote from Gandhi in #40 (History).


	6. Six

#1 ( _Farce_ ): Morty and Falkner's first date was more…disastrous than romantic, starting with running into a suspicious Whitney in Goldenrod City, continuing with Morty's ghosts causing mischief, and ending with a failed attempt at a first kiss; Morty was genuinely shocked when Falkner told him that he had a good time and he'd call the other soon, having expected the younger boy to have been scared away from dating after their chaotic – yet humorous to anyone who was a bystander – first date.

#2 ( _Infuriating_ ): At first Morty's ghosts were furious with the presence of an intruder stealing time from their master and did everything to drive away the young would-be priest – although to his credit, Falkner handled their abuse extremely well; whenever the young boy was tormented by the ghosts, he'd simply brush it off and ignore their teasing until he finally won them over.

#3 ( _Vendor_ ): Falkner could barely contain his excited smile as he walked around the festival – the first he'd ever attended for he was always busy with his gym and no one dared interrupt him before Morty came along – with his blond boyfriend who had a knack for guessing where Falkner wanted to go next; it was actually the excited look in Falkner's eyes that tipped Morty off about what the younger boy wanted and Morty would bring Falkner over to whichever vendor he wanted to see, ignoring any protests from Falkner about paying for him.

#4 ( _Blade_ ): Falkner was a genius with a sword, the blade acting as an extension of himself instead of a separate entity, while Morty preferred a simple bow and arrow made not so simple by his powers; when the two were put together, they became an unstoppable force but their greatest strength lay not in their weapons, nor their skills, but in the bond between them and the knowledge that they were together, no matter what happened.

#5 ( _Zenith_ ): Falkner's true home was up in the sky, soaring as high as he could go with the birds he held so close to his heart, and while Morty didn't have the same love for the sky, he wanted to be part of Falkner's world; whenever Morty went flying at Falkner's request, he felt the near dizzying rush when he saw his boyfriend smile in sheer joy that Falkner felt whenever he was in the sky.

#6 ( _Fanciful_ ): Falkner was taught to live in a simple manner with little to no indulgences, so when he was thrust into the modern world with all the freedom he wanted, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do because the monks' training was the complete opposite of what society dictated; Morty quickly became a guiding light for Falkner and taught him the balance between keeping tradition and having fun.

#7 ( _Arrogance_ ): Most trainers who came into Falkner's gym found him to be haughty, self-righteous, and slightly naïve in thinking that his birds could beat electric types, but Morty knew what Falkner was like behind the mask he put up as a gym leader; the blue haired youth was a kind-hearted boy who spent his free time training future trainers in Violet City and constantly worried if he was strong enough to be part of the Pokémon League.

#8 ( _Deception_ ): Falkner's eyes stung and he tried unsuccessfully to keep the lump from forming in his throat after seeing Morty with Eusine; he couldn't believe he had been so foolish to think that he could trust Morty and after seeing his boyfriend – the boy he loved – with his ex-boyfriend made him question everything about their relationship.

#9 ( _Layers_ ): Falkner blushed as he felt Morty's hands untying the haori-himo around his waist and when he asked what Morty was he doing, the blond replied that he was attempting to get through all the layers Falkner wore and that it would be a lot easier if there wasn't so much material; Falkner's blush only grew at Morty's reply and he couldn't help but look over at the door to ensure that it was locked and none of his trainers would burst in unexpectedly again because he had a sinking suspicion of what Morty wanted to do.

#10 ( _Insouciance_ ): Falkner was amazed at how mellow Morty was – especially when he was the one who worried constantly about his trainers, his gym and its success, everything – and while it was almost infuriating to see how calm Morty always was, it was also one of the qualities Falkner admired most about the blond gym leader.

#11 ( _Nadir_ ): After Falkner caught Morty with Eusine and the inevitable breakup that followed, Morty felt like his life had hit rock bottom; he closed his gym to prospective trainers and spent most of his time alone trying to figure out a way to earn Falkner's forgiveness and win him back.

#12 ( _Axis_ ): The invisible line where the earth met the sky was also the point at which Morty and Falkner connected; although their worlds were separate, complete opposites even, they were drawn to each other and helped form a bridge to each other's worlds.

#13 ( _Economy_ ): Falkner frowned as he tried yet again to calculate the trainers' salaries, gym expenses, and victor's money for the month because with the economy going downhill, it was getting difficult to manage money; however, as soon as Falkner's pencil hit the paper, he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his waist and a smooth voice suggesting they headed to bed.

#14 ( _Windswept)_ : Morty was surprised that Falkner's hair and clothing never seemed out of place with all of the flying he did; what he didn't know was that Falkner made sure to straighten his clothing and smooth down his hair before going inside to see Morty because he wanted to look presentable before seeing his boyfriend – not to say Morty would have minded seeing the blue haired boy looking less than perfect because no matter how he looked, Morty always found Falkner attractive.

#15 ( _Scatter):_  Falkner jumped and let go of the bag of birdseed in his hands, causing the seed to spill out everywhere onto the floor, when he heard a voice call out his name; he flushed in embarrassment as he turned around to see Morty standing in the entrance to the aviary with a bemused expression on his face.

#16 ( _Flay):_  Falkner could easily flay someone alive with his sword, but his skill with a sword was nothing compared to his sharp wit and even sharper tongue; whenever Morty and Falkner would fight, the younger boy's anger would get the best of him and he'd throw whatever comments he knew would sting the most at Morty, not realizing at the time how much he'd regret those comments later.

#17 ( _Video Games_ ): Falkner had never even heard of a video game before, so when Morty took him to the game corner in Goldenrod City, the blue haired boy looked astounded by all the bright lights and loud sounds; Morty knew – although he couldn't quite say he cared – that Falkner's elders would be furious that he was taken to a place of such depravity and turpitude, but the look of childlike wonder on Falkner's face was worth the lecture he'd been given from both their respective elders.

#18 ( _Unleash_ ): Falkner had never seen Morty's powers fully unleashed until Morty had finally given in and let Falkner come on a mission with him; the idea of Falkner getting hurt because he wasn't there kept Morty on his guard the entire time because he couldn't bear the thought of his boyfriend being injured.

#19 ( _Carnal_ ): Falkner was from a deeply religious background and the monks he lived with frowned upon physical pleasures – especially the carnal desires of lust – which only served as a point of confusion for Falkner when his relationship with Morty became more involved; he knew he wasn't supposed to think about sexual desires, let alone sexual desires with another man, but Arceus, being with Morty felt so right.

#20 ( _Innocence_ ): "I'm onto you…" Falkner mouthed behind Morty's back at the snickering ghosts, who were extremely pleased with themselves after a successful prank on the Flying Leader; unfortunately Falkner knew he just had to accept their torments until they got bored with him or finally realized that he wasn't like Eusine and he wasn't going to hurt him the way Eusine did when he left.

#21 ( _Alibi)_ : If anyone asked where they had gone to, Bugsy promised to cover for Morty and Falkner and give the couple a good alibi as to where they had been and what they had been doing; the truth was actually that the two had snuck away to spend some time alone and rumors flew about what they were doing alone, but neither of them would reveal any details.

 _#22 (Staircase_ ): "Don't you have a staircase?" Morty asked one day after taking the lift – which Morty was sure was rigged for whenever he came up because there was no possible way it was that fast for everyone who came up to see Falkner – to which the Flying specialist only chuckled and asked what would he need a staircase for when he had the lift to torture Morty with.

#23 ( _Follow_ ): Morty had noticed a certain Pidgey had taken a liking to him – possibly because of how often he babied the birds – and the little bird followed him around every time he visited Falkner's gym; although he didn't mind the Pidgey's attention, Falkner usually commanded the bird to leave them alone and chided Morty for "babying the birds that were supposed to be trained to fight."

#24 ( _Inconceivable_ ): At first, the thought that he and Morty could break up seemed inconceivable to Falkner, something that just could not happen, but after he saw Eusine kissing Morty, who claimed to be over his ex-boyfriend, he wasn't so sure anymore; how was he supposed to trust Morty again after something like that and could their relationship really survive the blow?

#25 ( _Trust_ ): "I need you to trust me again Falkner; I promise I will never hurt you again, so please, just trust me…" Morty murmured softly against Falkner's ear, his breathe tickling the skin and causing him to shiver; Falkner's eyes, glittering like ice, almost seemed to melt after a few moments before he wrapped his arms around Morty for a tight hug, telling him that he was never allowed to hurt him like that again.

#26 ( _Deduce_ ): It didn't take much for Falkner to figure out what was going on when he found his boyfriend pressed against the wall with his lips attached to his ex-boyfriend's; the feeling of hurt and betrayal took the breath out of Falkner's lungs and left him feeling hollow inside, but what he didn't see was Morty pushing Eusine away after the kiss or the way his eyes were filled with regret after Falkner saw them.

#27 ( _Betray_ ): Morty couldn't help but feel sick at the feeling of Eusine's lips on his – not because of the kiss itself but because of the sinking feeling of guilt and betrayal toward Falkner because he didn't fight Eusine; the feeling of sickness only got worse when Falkner walked through the doors, frozen in horror at the sight of his boyfriend kissing someone else.

#28 ( _Pet_ ): "He's only keeping you around because you're like some little pet to him; the only reason you're still here is because he doesn't have the heart to tell you that you don't matter to him!" Eusine yelled angrily, causing Falkner to flinch; as hard as it was, Falkner couldn't allow himself to think Eusine was right because if he allowed himself to doubt, he was afraid he'd start believing those lies.

#29 ( _Anger_ ): Falkner could feel his blood beginning to boil as he watched Morty – his boyfriend – kissing his ex-boyfriend Eusine; an underlying feeling of hurt and betrayal ran through him and left bitter taste in his mouth for being so foolish to believe Morty, to trust him when he said he was over Eusine and that Falkner was the only person he wanted to be with, to believe his lies!

#30 ( _Reality_ ): When reality sunk in, Morty realized there were a lot of problems with his relationship with Falkner, the ongoing feud between their clans, Eusine's attempts to win Morty back, Whitney's jealousy; at night Morty just liked to forget their many problems, hold Falkner in his arms underneath the stars, and pretend the world was alright with them being together.

#31 ( _Seeking_ ): At first, Falkner was skeptical about the idea of soul mates and how the two souls spent their lives seeking out each other and weren't complete until their other half was found; after meeting Morty, Falkner realized that he felt a sense of wholeness that made him realize he was only half complete before finding Morty.

#32 ( _Analyze)_ : "What's there to analyze," Falkner shouted as Morty tried to apologize for kissing Eusine, "the fact that you cheated on me or the fact that I was foolish enough to believe you wouldn't because the situation seems pretty clear to me, and as much as I want to give up on this, I can't because my heart refuses to let you go; damn it Morty, I still love you!"

#33 ( _Equivalence_ ): "There always has to be a balance in the world," Morty commented idly as he and Falkner watched the stars on a warm night after yet another fruitless meeting with their elders, "and one day we'll be able to create a sense of balance between our clans and set our worlds right; one day we will have peace, just as the Legendaries intended."

#34 ( _Arbitrary_ ): There was rhyme and reason to everything Falkner did, whether it was his methods for training his Pokémon or how he dealt with trainers; Morty was the opposite and frequently did things on a whim – just because he was able to – and started dragging Falkner along for his spontaneously thought up plans because the younger boy needed more fun in his life.

#35 ( _Oranges_ ): Falkner gasped and dropped the basket of Oran berries he was holding when he felt a strong pair of arms wrap around him from behind and a voice whispering "boo" in his ear; he turned around in the stranger's arms to see Morty grinning at him and rolled his eyes, telling the blond that he just wasted the Oran berries he'd been picking.

#36 ( _Deliberate_ ): There was something about the way Falkner started smiling with a hint of mischief dancing in his eyes whenever Morty's headband was stolen by one of Falkner's birds that he swore it was done on purpose by the seemingly innocent gym leader; Morty couldn't say he minded though when Falkner started running his hands through his loose hair, even if he was convinced his boyfriend was secretly much more devious than he thought.

#37 ( _Artistic_ ): Falkner was left-brained and logical, preferring the concrete to the abstract, and very rarely showed his artistic side – although he claimed that he didn't have an artistic side to begin with; Morty would disagree with that statement though because the way Falkner danced with his swords was nothing short of a form of art.

#38 ( _Professional_ ): "M-Morty, please, it's not professional…" Falkner gasped out as Morty began sucking on the delicate flesh of his collarbone and his fingers tightened in Morty's shirt as he bit back a moan; despite Falkner's requests to remain professional in appearance during the conference of gym leaders, Morty couldn't help but steal Falkner away for a quick kiss that quickly got carried away.

#39 ( _Inept_ ): It didn't take much to realize that Falkner was socially inept and didn't understand people that well since he'd grown up largely by himself; the first time Falkner and Morty went out on a date, Falkner had no clue what to do, but he knew enough to know that he was definitely attracted to the strange blond who asked him out and he wanted to see him again.

#40 ( _Spartan_ ): The living quarters above Falkner's gym were extremely well-kept and clean to the point of immaculate whereas Morty wouldn't be surprised if he found something living in his because of all the clutter; Falkner often had to restrain himself from trying to fix up Morty's room and Morty had to remember not to live things lying around whenever he visited Falkner, but both of them were willing to be a little more lenient with how they lived because of how opposite they were and the necessity of a compromise.

#41 ( _Teeth_ ): Falkner blushed darkly as he pulled his haori over his neck to hide the marks on the skin during his visit to Sprout Tower to see his elders; he was going to kill Morty the next time he saw him for the hickeys scattered along the skin, and damn it, did he really have to use his teeth?

#42 ( _Shopping_ ): Falkner's idea of shopping was going to the market for food and he consistently turned down Whitney's offers to take him shopping at the department store in Goldenrod City, but one time when he was out with Morty, the older boy took him to the infamous department store he'd been avoiding for as long as he could remember Whitney asking; the visit was surprisingly less painful than he imagined since there was practical things there to buy for Pokémon, although he did come home with a Pokédoll from Morty that he couldn't talk the other out of buying for him.

#43 ( _Tail_ ): "Would you  _please_  tell your Haunter that my Pidgeotto's tail feathers are not for plucking out?" Falkner asked Morty in a barely restrained voice, to which Morty offered him a sheepish look and told him that it was just Haunter's way of playing with Pidgeotto; the annoyed glare Morty received after that was enough for him to agree to talk to Haunter about why it wasn't okay to pull out a bird's feathers.

#44 ( _Choice_ ): "Is he really your choice?" Eusine asked, half curiously, after Morty told him that they couldn't be together anymore because his heart belonged to someone else now; Morty closed his eyes to think – Falkner's face and the memories of being together popping into his mind – and he replied in an resolute tone that Falkner was the only person he wanted to be with.

#45 ( _Golden_ ): Falkner smiled as he walked through the Bellchime Trail with Morty for a picnic, their fingers laced together as the golden leaves fell around them; the blue haired boy's eyes shut as Morty's lips captured his for a kiss and their picnic basket lay forgotten as they both lost themselves in the kiss.

#46 ( _Scarf_ ): Falkner had to admit he had just as much of an obsession with Morty's scarf as his birds, who usually pecked at his scarf and tried to steal it, did; whenever he was with Morty, his fingers would gravitate toward the other's scarf to play with the fringe or even take it from Morty if he was cold enough.

#47( _Outfoxed_ ): Morty liked to consider himself extremely sly because he dealt with ghosts and their mischief and occasionally pulled pranks on anyone he found deserving of a little mischief; it came as a surprise when Falkner, straight-laced and logical Falkner, turned one of his pranks right back on him and outfoxed the master of mischief.

#48 ( _Bitter_ ): Swallowing one's pride often left a bitter taste in one's mouth – a fact Morty can attest to – because when Falkner caught him kissing Eusine, he knew he'd have to apologize for the incident and find a way to make it up to Falkner by any means necessary; swallowing his pride was nothing compared to seeing the hurt and betrayed look on the younger boy's face.

#49 ( _Together_ ): Whitney leaned in close as she whispered surreptitiously to her friends that Morty and Falkner were going to share a room together for the next meeting of the Johto gym leaders; when asked about it, Falkner could only blush and stammer while Morty told them that it was more convenient than sneaking into someone else's room to visit his boyfriend.

#50 ( _Cling_ ): Falkner wasn't usually the clingy type – growing up with monks who wanted him to detach himself from the world made him independent and reserved – but Morty was usually affectionate and cuddled with Falkner whenever possible; it didn't take much for Falkner's resolve to break down when he was settled against Morty's with the other's arms wrapped around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, I don't think I can get through a set without thinking of something to write as a footnote. The idea of Morty as an archer (#4 Blade) came to me from watching a lot of xxxHOLiC and my brother's frequent conversations with me about Bleach. If I could draw, I'd definitely attempt drawing those two as Shinigami.
> 
> I'm thinking my theme this time around was SacredHonorshipping, which I may or may not write a chapter story about. Don't expect that to be up any time quickly though. I'll be working on a lot of other things before that, and quite frankly, I'm awful at chapter stories. If it's not fully written before I start posting, it'll never get finished. I have yet to complete a single chapter story so…yeah. It's not my strongest point. I have a problem with completing things. "Wishes" should be coming out soon though. I've got a sheet of loose leaf with all my ideas written on it. My room's clean now so I'm not entirely sure where it went off to. Well, actually I just found it. It was hiding in the frame of my bed.
> 
> Well, it seems this is it. I don't have any more lists, so it looks like this is finally over. Thank you all for sticking with me and I hope you guys liked this! Expect to see more from me soon! If anyone's an Originshipper, I've got a multi-chapter story in the works for them. It may be the first multi-chapter fic I'll finish (assuming I do finish xD) Oh, and I'll definitely be writing Wishes for you guys as soon as I can. :)


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